


Aishite- What Are You Doing?

by Seachelle623



Series: Whatever Happens...happens [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 10 percent actual plot and romantic stuff, 90 percent comedy, Again not gonna give away a lot but..., ChenSung cameo since Jisung IS Mark's little bro in this, College AU, Donghyuck is cute, Donghyuck's story is here!!!, Exchange Student, F/F, F/M, Highschool AU, Hyuck is actually me failing Japanese, I learn Japanese too so I'll add in some translations of things I use, M/M, Mark is there to be awkward, NoRenMin too since Donghyuck is close to them, Plot revolves around Hyuck failing Japanese lol, Taeyong still works at that ice cream parlour, They swear in like all of my stories, They're both savage, University AU, Yuta is being forced to be a tutor by TY, Yuta is cute, let's see how this plays out, plus it's Donghyuck and Yuta, swearing because teens and young adults, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-04-26 07:01:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14396760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seachelle623/pseuds/Seachelle623
Summary: Ever since Donghyuck’s parents began to work more to pay off the bills that were reaching the sky because of Donghyuck’s addiction to streaming anime and playing online RPGs, Taeyong had replaced the roles of his parents in the aspect that he made sure that Donghyuck didn’t (1) die because he did something stupid, (2) get arrested because he did something stupid and (3) fail school because of his ever dropping grades in that one foreign language he took that wasn’t English.Ah, the joys of taking Japanese where you need to learn three goddamn scripts because whoever created it decided it would be great to make foreigners suffer-





	1. The Start of Something Fun...?

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise...? This ship only has like two stories so I decided, why not keep doing what I do with rare ships and contribute to the tag? (Ok...ChenSung isn't that rare but like...CHENSUNG). Anyway, hope you enjoy this with this since it'll probably be ridiculous because DONGHYUCK AND YUTA ARE LIKE COMEDIC RELIEF IN EVERYTHING THEY'RE IN!
> 
> Yeah, this was created because Pining For Two is finishing soon (I'm actually really sad that that's going to end...)

The first time Donghyuck saw him was when he was visiting his best friend’s boyfriend, Lee Taeyong. The other was tall, fair skin and a face that was probably one of the most handsome that Donghyuck had ever seen - second only to Lee Taeyong, Mark’s long time boyfriend.

“Oh, Hyuck! You’re finally here! Come on in!” Mark greeted him, stepping aside to let him in. It took a few seconds but Donghyuck finally got his legs to move, eyes never leaving the stranger in the house. Toeing off his shoes, Donghyuck barely realised that Mark had closed and locked the door, disappearing to probably notify Taeyong of his arrival.

 

See, hangouts like these where Donghyuck third wheeled were not uncommon - Donghyuck often needed help with his Japanese assignments since he was pretty much failing that class and it just so happened that Mark’s older boyfriend who was studying in college was fluent in Japanese. Taeyong was a nice guy, seemed to be cold at first but was actually one of the most softest people that Donghyuck had ever met. Ever since Donghyuck’s parents began to work more to pay off the bills that were reaching the sky because of Donghyuck’s addiction to streaming anime and playing online RPGs, Taeyong had replaced the roles of his parents in the aspect that he made sure that Donghyuck didn’t (1) die because he did something stupid, (2) get arrested because he did something stupid and (3) fail school because of his ever dropping grades in that one foreign language he took that wasn’t English.

 

Ah, the joys of taking Japanese where you need to learn _three goddamn scripts because whoever created it decided it would be great to make foreigners suffer-_

 

“Donghyuck! Need help with Japanese again?” Taeyong asked him, emerging from the doorway of the dining room. _He was probably in the kitchen._ At the mention of the foreign language, the stranger in the room’s head lifted from where it was trained on some manga as he sat cross legged on the couch, looking at Taeyong first then Mark…then finally, Donghyuck. Vaguely, Donghyuck heard Mark snort. _This pig…_

“Since when did Hyuck ever come for something other than the answer to ‘ _kyou no tenki ha nan desu ka_ ’?” Mark asked sarcastically, butchering the Japanese words with his Korean and English accents since he didn’t speak the foreign language of Japanese.

“Will you ever drop the time where I didn’t know that question was asking about the weather?! Like, I have learnt so much more and I can even say what I want to do in the future, Mark Lee!” Donghyuck whined because that was the only thing he knew how to do fluently. _Pffft…if only Mark-hyung knew how hard it was to learn that ‘tenki’ was weather in Japanese…_

“Alright, quit the bullying, Mark,” Taeyong scolded, ignoring Mark’s complaints about how unfair it was that Taeyong seemed to always like Donghyuck more than him. _In your face, bitch._ “By the way Donghyuck, this is Yuta.” Taeyong informed him, swinging an arm around the stranger who smiled at him.

“Yuta came last week from Japan to study here for three years on a scholarship for his degree in graphic designing,” Mark elaborated, swinging his own arm around Donghyuck’s shoulders and leading him to sit on the couch that was opposite the one that Taeyong and the stranger were on.

“He’s from Japan?” Donghyuck found himself asking because _yes, he needed to clarify that_.

“Yep! I’m also getting busier managing the parlour because some people don’t know how to scoop ice cream so he’ll be your tutor for the next like three years,” Taeyong said, briefly filling Yuta in on what was going on in Japanese. Donghyuck watched as the other’s face brightened up at the mention of him being a tutor and Donghyuck suddenly felt like he was witnessing a miracle since the smile that this guy had… _it rivalled Jaemin’s smile and no one’s smile rivals Jaemin’s smile._

“Um…does he…does he know Korean?” Donghyuck asked Taeyong carefully, waiting until the older was done explaining and was met with Yuta’s own melodious laughter.

“I hope I know Korean since I’m going to be studying here for the next three years. It’s nice to meet you, Donghyuck,” Yuta replied in _perfect Korean_ and Donghyuck felt his cheeks heating up while everyone else in the room laughed at him.

“Nice to meet you too, Yuta-hyung…” He mumbled, pouting slightly when Yuta commented on how adorable his chubby cheeks were.

 

 _These next three years are going to be_ so much _fun…fuck my life and this guy with the healing smile._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

kyou no tenki ha nan desu ka / 今日の天気は何ですか。  
             = Today, what is the weather? / What is the weather for today? / What is today's weather?


	2. Game On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh my god-“
> 
> “People call me a lot of things and now I’ll be sure to add ‘god’ to the list.”

“So like, why is my sentence wrong?” Donghyuck asked his tutor, not quite understanding why his sentence was wrong. It had been only an hour since the older Japanese native had begun helping him with his assignment which was to create a paragraph in Japanese about his parent’s jobs and Donghyuck, deciding to lie about his mother being a housewife instead of a business woman, did not understand why his tutor was laughing hysterically at him. The two were seated on the kitchen table, the faint smell of fried rice filling the air as Taeyong was cooking with Mark quietly chatting to him about his last year in high school. _I swear this guy is on drugs…_ Donghyuck’s tutor, however, was ruining the cosy atmosphere with his loud and obnoxious laughter, barely staying seated on the chair that he was on. _This goddamn retard named ‘Nakamoto Yuta’…ugh! I didn’t even ask for his last name and it was the first thing he told me when we started this fucking tutoring session!_

“Do you really not know what _shoufu_ means?” The older Japanese male wheezed out, wiping a tear that had _actually escaped his goddamn eye_ and not doing anything to solve Donghyuck’s confusion. Having never felt more dumb in his life, Donghyuck nodded. _Isn’t ‘shoufu’ housewife?_ “Oh my god, you actually-“ Donghyuck could feel his temper rising when the other laughed at him some more.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with the sentence or am I going to actually have to look it up in my textbook?” Donghyuck asked, clearly annoyed with the other and insisted on glaring at the other so much that he didn’t realise his best friend and his old tutor leave the kitchen.

“No…you see…oh god this is hilarious…” Yuta trailed off, pissing Donghyuck off even more if that was possible. “Ok so um… _’shoufu’_ isn’t housewife - it’s nowhere near housewife…” Yuta managed to get out before collapsing into his hysterical state of laughter once more. _I can already tell I’m going to fail Japanese…even if my tutor is from Japan…_

“Well what does it mean then?” Donghyuck asked irritably, grabbing a pen from his pencil case and vigorously flipping to the back of his Japanese book where he kept a record of new vocabulary that he learnt in and out of class. Looking up, Donghyuck wasn’t surprised to see that Yuta was _still_ laughing at him.

 

“It means…hang on, shit I don’t know the Korean equivalent…” Yuta mumbled, hands coming up to cradle the sides of his head as he looked at the table in panic. Now it was Donghyuck’s turn to snort at him, hating the fact that he probably copied Mark just then. _This is why Taeyong-hyung is a better tutor…he actually_ knows _Korean since he_ is _Korean!_

“You can always describe the meaning to me…I can try to see what you’re talking about,” Donghyuck offered, taking pity on the pitiful sight of the pitiful male in front of him. _This is probably more pitiful that the three dumbasses back at school who are in love with each other._

“It’s like…a person-“

“So I was half right.”

“No! It’s like a person who goes around and trades sexual times for money,” Yuta finished, his eyebrows furrowed as he revised what he said and when he deemed it suitable, he nodded to himself. _His little mannerisms are kinda cute…_

“A person who has sex for money?” Donghyuck asked, simplifying the explanation and thought hard about what that could possibly mean. He saw Yuta looks at him with hope in his eyes as the older male waited, wanting to learn the Korean equivalent to whatever _‘shoufu’_ was. _Wait a person who uses sex for money? Isn’t that just a prostitute?_

“Isn’t that just a prostitute?” Donghyuck asked, looking at the other in surprise or disbelief - he didn’t know which, maybe both - and physically had to restrain himself from melting when the older shot him another one of his smiles.

“Ah! That’s the word! Sorry, I had a mind blank…” Yuta trailed off as Donghyuck focused on writing the new word in his vocabulary list, blatantly ignoring Yuta’s healing smile. “Anyway, the word you wanted to write is _‘shufu’_.” _Right. I knew that._

 

Nodding again, Donghyuck flipped back to the page in his book where he was completing the paragraph to rewrite his sentence so it said that his mother was a housewife.

“So it’s _‘shufu’_ not _‘shoufu’_ …okay, I will remember that,” Donghyuck mumbled more to himself than his tutor and flinched when he felt a hand come into contact with his head. He only needed to look up to see the culprit of the jumpscare for the person in front of him had his head leaning on his right fist as his left hand was slowly patting his head. _What the fuck?! I’m not your pet!_

“You actually do really well! I read the rest of the paragraph and other than a few punctuation mistakes, everything is perfect!” Yuta exclaimed, flashing Donghyuck another one of his healing smiles that made DOnghyuck question whether the other was real or not. _Maybe he’s a robot…maybe he was created by some bigshot Japanese tech company…he_ is _from Japan, after all-_

“What the fuck are you saying? I’m not a robot,” Yuta whispered lowly to him, left hand leaving the top of his head and coming to pinch Donghyuck’s right cheek. _Hard._

“Ow! Ow! Okay! You’re not a robot!” Donghyuck shouted out when Yuta began to pull with his left hand, making Donghyuck’s cheek hurt even more at the stretch of his skin. “Stop! My cheeks are going to sag!”

“You’re like seven, your cheeks aren’t going to sag anytime soon,” Yuta retorted, laughing at him once more and _finally_ letting Donghyuck’s cheek go. Flinging his right hand up to caress his poor abused cheek, Donghyuck glared holes at the older.

“Are you talking from experience?” Donghyuck asked straight out because he couldn’t deal with being the only one who was being humiliated. Barely anyone else gave him a verbal fight, after all…this would be the first time that Donghyuck actually had someone to challenge in terms of comebacks and harsh compliments.

“No but I heard Taeyong whining about how he didn’t want his face to get wrinkles the other day,” Yuta nonchalantly said, DOnghyuck taking that as a silent agreement to his competition of _Let’s See Who’s More Savage!_

“Taeyong-hyung is already most of the way there, have you seen how he fights with Mark-hyung?! They’re like an old married couple!” Donghyuck complained, throwing down his pen on the table and leaning back in his chair. “It’s ridiculous!”

“I’d rather that then idiots who don’t realise they like each other like two of my internet friends who live here,” Yuta replied, mimicking Donghyuck’s position by leaning back in his chair as well. _So I take it homework is a lot cause now?_

“You have friends who live here? Hold up…you have friends as in plural?” Donghyuck shot back, leaning forward and watching the older scoff.

“Yes I have friends as in plural, I’m not a complete idiot, you know. And yes, I have internet friends who live here and I’ve visited them a few times too,” Yuta explained and Donghyuck couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Of course the older had friends, with a face like his that would be expected, but it was the fact that the other had _internet_ friends - you know, the kind that Donghyuck wanted but never had because all of his internet friends lived in America or Canada or knew English and Donghyuck…Donghyuck’s English skills were below satisfactory to say the least.

 

“Oh my _god_ -“

“People call me a lot of things and now I’ll be sure to add ‘god’ to the list.” _This fucking…ugh!_

“I was not directing that at you and you know it, Yuta,” Donghyuck fired, purposely dropping the honorific and leaning forward, hands placed on the kitchen table as he glared the older down. Briefly seeing the other smirk, Donghyuck used all of his willpower to not budge from his position when he saw the other’s _fucking immaculate_ face so _close_ to his own.

“If you don’t want to use _‘hyung’_ , _‘sama’_ is fine,” Yuta cheekily replied, kissing Donghyuck’s nose lightly before leaning back again in his chair. Smirk still on the other’s face, Donghyuck only scowled when the other winked at him.

“I’d rather _die_ than call you that, _baka_ ,” Donghyuck spat out, dramatically sighing once he sat back in his chair. The ever-present smirk on the other’s face pissed him off even more before the other gave him another proper smile.

“A _tsundere_ , huh? Interesting…” He heard Yuta mumbled and did the best thing that his brain could think of right now - Donghyuck threw the pen that was on the table at the other. Sadly, Yuta caught it before it even hit him, chuckling when Donghyuck glared more at him. “Not going to take me out that easily, amateur.”

 

That one sentence made Donghyuck’s blood boil because _in what kind of world was Donghyuck an amateur at his own game?!_

 

“Oh, we’ll see who the real amateur is, _ohimesama,_ ” Donghyuck hissed out, packing his stationery hastily and walking out of the kitchen with his bag and a burning face. It was time he went home anyway, that was enough Japanese tutoring for today.

“Does this mean you’re dead now?” Yuta’s faint voice called from the kitchen when Donghyuck exited it. Sighing, Donghyuck simply gave the other the middle finger without looking.

“You wish you could get rid of me that easily!” He shouted back, ignoring the looks that Taeyong and Mark sent him from their cuddling position on the couch. Muttering a thanks, Donghyuck let himself out of the house per usual, trying his best to tune out those pretty laughs that he heard from behind him and focus on getting home without being mugged.

 

_Nakamoto Yuta...oh, it is game on._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

shoufu / 娼婦

             = Prostitute

 

shufu / 主婦

             = Housewife

 

sama / さま

             = Sign of respect for those who are older than you or have a higher social class than you. It is mainly used for royalty, celebrities or characters that people admire. 

 

baka / バカ

             =　Fool / Idiot

 

tsundere / ツンデレ

             = Someone who acts cold or mean but actually has a warm heart and cares for people a lot. They often cover their actions up with excuses.

 

ohimesama / お姫さま / お姫様

             = Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the Japanese phrases are pretty basic now but they will get more complicated when the plot starts to actually develop!!


	3. Kochira?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yuta-hyung has interests in things other than graphic design?”

The first time that Lee Donghyuck felt like he was just starting to know Nakamoto Yuta’s personality and weaknesses was when he was visiting Taeyong’s university with Mark. His best friend needed to deliver something at five in the evening to help Taeyong film the university’s dance club’s practice and being the good friend he was, Donghyuck tagged along just so that he could avoid the research task he had for one of his classes.

“I don’t really get why I’m here,” He stated as Mark rolled his eyes once more at his attitude, obviously not really understanding why he had to be there with his best friend. Clicking his tongue at him, Mark continued walking forward and it was quite a few minutes before Donghyuck realised that the other had the _tenacity to ignore him._ “Are you…are you ignoring me, Mark Lee?”

“No, I’m looking for the photography building, idiot,” Mark responded, black shoulder bag in hand as he followed the instructions that were on his phone. “Hyung says that he left the dance studio since the club took a one hour break to clear their minds before coming back to film.”

“I thought Taeyong-hyung was a dance major-“

“He is.”

“Then why the fuck is he in the photography building?!” Donghyuck shouted, feeling oddly small in the large campus of a university. _Is this what I’m going to go to the year after next year? If so, SOMEONE RESIGN ME FROM THIS BIG ASS JOURNEY NAMED UNIVERS-_

“Yuta-hyung is in the photography club. Taeyong-hyung said that he joined it yesterday,” Mark explained, interrupting Donghyuck’s inner monologue on his life after high school. _He likes photography?_

“Yuta-hyung has interests in things _other_ than graphic design?” Donghyuck questioned, stopping momentarily at the new information and glaring at Mark who snickered at him.

“Well _yeah_ , he’s _human_. Just because Taeyong-hyung is a dance major doesn’t mean that _all_ of his interests are in dance. The same thing applies to Yuta-hyung too,” Mark said, turning abruptly around one building only to enter another that looked exactly the same other than the big sign that said _‘Photography Building’_ above the double glass doors. “Why are you so interested in your tutor anyway?” _Because I need something to make insults on!_

“I’m not interested! I just didn’t pin him as the photography kind of guy!” Donghyuck protested, crossing his arms as they got in an elevator with Mark pressing the fourth floor. “Besides, he seems too dumb to know how to even work a camera!”

“You do realise that he’s on a _scholarship_ , right?” Mark asked him incredulously, clearly amused at Donghyuck’s childish reasoning. _Scholarship people don’t always know how to use cameras!_ “That means he has _some_ brains at least, Hyuck…”

“Still!” Donghyuck shouted, voice resonating in the deserted hallway that had multiple artworks in several notice boards along with some posters about what the Photography majors in the university had achieved in the year prior.

“Ah, we’re here!” Mark stated, knocking on the door and looking through the window to see Taeyong hunching over Yuta to see whatever was on the laptop on front of the exchange student. _Why the hell does he need to be so close? It’s only a laptop and Taeyong’s vision is better than mine!_ Watching as Taeyong looked up from the laptop and to the door’s window, Donghyuck somehow couldn’t avert his eyes when Yuta looked up as well and met his own. _Look away idiot!_ He saw Yuta smile softly at him as Taeyong walked towards the door to open it, promptly causing Donghyuck to freeze and awkwardly smile in return.

 

“Hey, Baby Lion and Hyuck. You got the camera bag?” Taeyong greeted and asked, motioning for them to enter the classroom and literally pulling them inside when neither of them moved. He carefully took the black bag off Mark and opened it, pulling out two sets of lens, the camera and a bunch of other items that Donghyuck guessed were storage related. Humming in thought and turning to Yuta who was still seated at the desk in front of his laptop, Taeyong called him over and earning a groan when the Japanese male stood up and joined them. Donghyuck stiffly nodded in greeting when Yuta smiled at him softly once more (although, Donghyuck tried not to feel special since he knew that Yuta was smiling at Mark as well). _Wait, feel special? What the fuck, Donghyuck?! He’s your_ tutor _!_

“You think you can decently film us using this, Yukkuri?” Taeyong asked the exchange student who was now inspecting the camera carefully, holding it between his fingers as if it were the most precious thing he had ever held. _Yukkuri? What kind of a nickname-_

“A DSLR camera is already enough but do you have a tripod or anything?” Yuta asked the older who shook his head remorsefully.

“Last time we had one, Ten and Johnny broke it,” Taeyong explained, sighing at the end of a bad memory that Donghyuck did not share. _What the hell happens in university?!_

“What the hell did they do?” Mark asked, clearly as surprised as Donghyuck was and was answered with another one of Taeyong’s sighs.

“They were trying to play jump rope with it…” Taeyong answered, clearly disappointed in the two who had made the memory.

“But it’s a _fucking tripod_ ,” Donghyuck stated, being answered with Taeyong shaking his head and a silent agreement to drop the topic. _Those are expensive!_

“So no tripod? Damn, makes things harder,” Yuta mumbled to himself, lower lip jutting out in a slight pout. It was just so _Yuta_ that Donghyuck couldn’t help _but_ stare. He did break his gaze when Mark pinched his arm, sending him a smirk that Donghyuck rolled his eyes at. _What the hell is this idiot implying now?_ “Well…I don’t have a steady hand for recording so unless we find someone who is willing to record steadily-“

“Donghyuck can do it!” Mark practically shouted, throwing his arm carelessly around Donghyuck’s shoulders as he put most of his weight on the smaller male. “Donghyuck has a really steady hand for recording stuff!”

“What the hell, Mark? No I don’t-“

“He helped me film for the media team at school once for footage of a ceremony that we needed to upload on our school website,” Mark hastily said, earning a glare from the youngest male in the room.

“You _forced_ me to do that-“

 

“Please, Hyuck? We really need to film this tonight,” Taeyong begged and Donghyuck could feel his will slowly starting to crumble since the older was looking at him with such _hope_ in his eyes. It was a mistake for Donghyuck turn his gaze to the exchange student next to his best friend’s boyfriend for the other only shot him a reassuring smile.

“I’ll help coordinate you to get the best shots. Won’t be hard considering out height difference,” Yuta stated, captivating smile shining through and doing it’s best to get rid of Donghyuck’s last resolve to not film. _I’m not even that much shorter than you! Only around half a head!_

“Fine but the dance club owes me,” He said, grunting loudly as Mark pinched his cheek in appreciation and Taeyong thanked him numerous times while Yuta simply looked amused.

“Yeah okay, we’ll pay for your food,” Taeyong nonchalantly said, waving his hand as if it was a small matter when it was, in fact, _a dire matter because it’s food._

“Let’s just go film before I change my mind,” He stated in annoyance, storming out of the door and down the hallway in a random direction, hoping that it would lead outside.

“Donghyuck? _Kochira!_ ” He heard Yuta scream out at him and simply looked at the other with a blank expression. The exchange student was behind Taeyong and Mark, hand motion telling him to go towards him. _Kochira? What the fuck does that mean?_ “It means ‘here’, you idiot!” _Okay, he’s lucky I don’t have anything to stab him with._

“I swear it was this way,” Donghyuck stated bitterly, begrudgingly walking towards the other male with his hands in his pockets. He expected Yuta to laugh at him (which he did) but he didn’t expect Yuta to hold the camera up and snap a picture of his side profile as he walked past him. “Why the fuck did you take a picture of me? It’s not even your camera!”

“You turned out fine, relax. I need it for graphic design reference since I need to draw a character’s side view in a hallway,” Yuta explained, reviewing the picture on the camera and turning the camera off once he deemed the shot satisfactory. “Come on,” Yuta said as he lightly nudged Donghyuck’s arm and walked ahead of him, leaving Donghyuck to stare at the back of the older’s oversized grey sweater.

 

_What the hell was that about?_

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Yukkuri / ゆっくり  
             = Yuta's adorable nickname that I love~

 

Kochira / こちら

             = Over here / here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things in my life got sorted quicker than I expected them to (most was stuff that was out of my control) so yes, that means that you should buckle up your seatbelts because this story's plot is starting to develop.


	4. Why Did I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camera itself wasn’t too out of shape, the lens were mostly fine except for a few scratches and it turned on but Yuta felt like something was missing…something that he should be doing. 
> 
> Should I start taking pictures as reference for future animation film projects?

The first time that Nakamoto Yuta actually felt like he was finally befriending someone who didn’t host him in Korea or was dating the person who was hosting him in Korea was when he was inspecting a DSLR camera in the university’s photography room. Yuta _had_ been showing Taeyong his current animation project on his laptop in that same photography room as they both waited for the other’s boyfriend to appear with the previously mentioned DSLR camera. 

“You sure you’re alright to film our dance?” Taeyong asked him as Yuta was opening multiple folders to find his current project, efficiently figuring out where to go due to the helpful names of his folders that consisted of _‘Smile Project’_ and _‘Fuck My Life’_. He could feel Taeyong’s judging eyes at the names of his pieces but Nakamoto Yuta paid it no mind. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. I know about video editing and framing as much as I know about graphics. It’s part of the designing course,” He explained to the other to ease his nerves, finally opening up the most recent document he had on his animation project and letting the preview play. “Your dance practice will help me too since I’ll probably use some moves as animation practice. Rotoscoping and that shit.” The animation that was playing was a simple 24 frames per second and didn’t even have any colour yet but it was obvious just how much amount of time and effort that Yuta had placed into its creation the night before, even if it was a mere sketch at this point. The camera started off at a pair of feet that were in frame, toes facing the audience and moving in a circular fashion around the person, panning higher to reveal more. First the toes, then the side of the leg as the camera continued moving sideways and upwards to depict a close up of the person’s hip, stomach and waist along with the outline of the jeans and shirt that they were wearing. Yuta kept his eyes trained on the animation that he had created as the lower back, elbow and chest were revealed, hands clasped in front of the chest with a microphone in between. 

“This is impressive,” Taeyong commented, leaning closer towards the laptop to see the details in the sketches of small moles on the neck, the tiny earring on the person’s ear and the outlines of the hairs on the back of the person’s head. “How did you get this whole spiral thing of the camera going?”

“I actually used my phone to film that camera movement with Kun, another exchange student who’s in the photography club,” Yuta explained, remembering the laughs that had come with Kun who barely stood still as Sicheng (a university student who graduated high school in Korea) made silly faces. “He’s actually here on a specific program thing for performing arts. I think he’s a vocal.”

“Yeah, the one Sicheng’s hosting?” Taeyong asked and Yuta nodded along, quickly switching between frames on the program and making mental notes of where to actually place in frames to make the animation smoother. “So what, you got Kun to stand still while holding a microphone as you walked around him in three circles, slowly moving the camera higher as you went along?”

“Basically. Although, it was much easier than you would think,” Yuta said before they both heard knocks on the closed door. Looking through the window of the door, Yuta saw Mark’s head peeping into the frame along with another one that was behind him - the student that had a fiery personality that Yuta couldn’t help but adore. _Hyuck-chan? What’s he doing here too?_ Smiling softly at the boy that he had been tutoring ever since he arrived in Korea, Yuta couldn’t stop his smile from growing when the other boy smiled back (even if it was painfully awkward). 

 

“Hey, Baby Lion and Hyuck. You got the camera bag?” He heard Taeyong greet them, mentally gagging at the other’s pet name for his younger boyfriend. _Who the hell chooses ‘Baby Lion’ out of all names?_ Closing all of the programs that he had open (which was just one), Yuta walked over to the trio when he was called over to inspect the DSLR and smiled to the younger boys. The camera itself wasn’t too out of shape, the lens were mostly fine except for a few scratches and it turned on but Yuta felt like something was missing…something that he should be _doing._ _Should I start taking pictures as reference for future animation film projects?_

“You think you can decently film us using this, Yukkuri?” He heard Taeyong ask him, slightly smiling at the nickname that he had made for him. The slight look of jealousy on a certain tanned boy’s face didn’t go unnoticed by the Japanese exchange student. _Heh…cute._

“A DSLR camera is already enough but do you have a tripod or anything?” He asked Taeyong, feeling disappointment when the other shook his head. _That leaves free hand filming - the one thing I suck at since I shake too much._

“Last time we had one, Ten and Johnny broke it,” Taeyong explained, sighing after at a memory that Yuta did not want to know about. 

“What the hell did they do?” _Same, Mark-kun, same._

“They were trying to play jump rope with it…” _Well considering how it was_ Ten _and_ Johnny _…but still!_

“But it’s a _fucking tripod_.” He heard Donghyuck state and felt the topic slowly disappear from the room to never be spoken of ever again. 

“So no tripod? Damn, makes things harder,” He mumbled to himself, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to think of a solution. After a while, he came up with nothing and decided to voice the problem. “Well…I don’t have a steady hand for recording so unless we find someone who is willing to record steadily-“

“Donghyuck can do it!” He heard Mark exclaim, watching as Mark placed his arm around the youngest boy’s shoulders and leaning on Donghyuck’s smaller frame. Vaguely, Yuta felt something sink in his stomach but ignored it since it was probably the frozen _gyoza_ that he had earlier because he couldn’t find a microwave. “Donghyuck has a really steady hand for recording stuff!” _Then problem solved!_

“What the hell, Mark? No I don’t-“

“He helped me film for the media team at school once for footage of a ceremony that we needed to upload on our school website.” He heard Mark say, albeit hastily, and Yuta tried not to laugh as the youngest gave a glare at Mark. _Does he really not want to do it? But my animation-_

“You _forced_ me to do that-“

 

“Please, Hyuck? We really need to film this tonight.” He heard Taeyong beg and Yuta joined in displaying hopeful eyes for the sake of animation rotoscoping practice. When he saw Donghyuck’s eyes turn to him, Yuta sent him a smile in what he hoped conveyed reassurance since the dance club and Yuta’s own skills needed this opportunity more than anything. 

“I’ll help coordinate you to get the best shots. Won’t be hard considering out height difference,” He stated, ready to almost _anything_ to get the younger to agree - heck, Nakamoto Yuta was ready to do the younger’s Japanese homework for him for the rest of his stay! Trying his best to smile, Yuta couldn’t help but feel _fake_. It just didn’t feel right, forcing a smile in front of Donghyuck was like the sun coming out at eight in the evening. It just didn’t work. 

“Fine but the dance club owes me.” He heard Donghyuck force out, multiple noises of annoyance escaping the youngest as Mark pinched his cheek and causing Yuta to shake his head at the pair. 

“Yeah okay, we’ll pay for your food,” Taeyong said flippantly, obviously not considering what he had said for he was just grateful that Donghyuck had agreed. 

“Let’s just go film before I change my mind.” The youngest stated, bitterness in his voice but nothing that was less than sweet surrounding his aura. Yuta watched in amusement as he stormed out of the classroom and walking down the hallway, going further into the building. Laughing to himself as he followed Taeyong and Mark out of the classroom, Yuta decided that someone should tell the youngest of the group that he was going the wrong way. 

“Donghyuck? _Kochira!_ ” He shouted, waving his hand to beckon Donghyuck closer when the other simply looked confused at his usage of the Japanese word. “It means ‘here’, you idiot!” _I thought they would teach ‘kochira’ in at least the first four lessons!_

“I swear it was this way,” Donghyuck stated bitterly, making Yuta laugh at him when he saw the other walk with heavy footsteps, hands in pockets. As he laughed, Yuta was amazed with how _pretty_ the younger looked under the shitty lighting of the hallway and before he could even blink, the camera was up and focused with Donghyuck’s side profile in the frame with the sound of the shutter being louder than necessary. “Why the fuck did you take a picture of me? It’s not even your camera!” _Why did I?_

“You turned out fine, relax. I need it for graphic design reference since I need to draw a character’s side view in a hallway,” He bullshitted, looking at how the photo turned out and decided that he could use it as future reference if he ever needed a character to walk in a hallway…although, Yuta also didn’t want to waste the beauty of the picture as it showed the younger’s long eyelashes and refining jawline. “Come on,” He said, nudging the younger after he turned the camera off, walking down the hallway after and towards the exit of the building. He tried his best to ignore the stare that was being burnt into his back and willed himself to not turn around. 

 

_What the fuck made you do that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it's the same event, the translations are the same as the previous chapter. 
> 
> ALSO: TAEMARK'S STORY HAS BEEN ADDED! So for all of you who wanted it to happen, Beyond Belief is now part of the series and is going to be the longest one out of all the stories in this series...I can already tell that much.


	5. Chance / チャンス

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the fuck is ‘chansu’?!”

Lee Donghyuck thought that by ‘filming the dance club’, he would only be holding a camera to capture it from a fixed position.

 

No one ever told him that he would be pressed up against Nakamoto _fucking_ Yuta’s back and feeling the older’s warmth as the exchange student’s hands slowly guided his arms to capture an assortment of angles, the older whispering directions of where to walk as they filmed.

 

And no one had bothered to tell him that his heart would be beating _this_ fast nor that his brain would be _this_ dysfunctional.

 

Honestly, it was a surprise to Donghyuck that he hadn’t completely fallen yet because of his own incompetence at that moment.

 

“Ah! _Chotto matte_! Stop! Stop!” He heard Yuta hiss in his ear as he tried his best to abruptly stop and not fall over like an idiot. “Now slowly… _massugu_...uh…straight.” _Nothing about me is straight though._ Nodding and slowly moving forward, Donghyuck tried his best to not tremble since the older was quite a bit…intimidating at that moment with how focused he was on getting the correct angles. Thankfully, the dance club were on the ending chorus and Donghyuck could hear Mark quietly cackling at him in the background. _Who the hell does he think he is laughing at me?! It’s not like I’m used to hot guys being pressed up against me and-_

 

 _Wait…did I just call Nakamoto Yuta…_ hot _?!_

 

“And we’re done!” Yuta screamed in his ear, loud enough for Donghyuck to suffer hearing damage and to get the members of the dance club to go on a break before the next shoot. They had already done the routine two times prior to this one and for some reason, none of them satisfied Lee Taeyong’s requirements. If Donghyuck wasn’t being honest, the artificial lights of the field was making his eyes hurt and the the laughter of the older boy behind him made his headache worse.

 

Turns out, Donghyuck was more truthful than he liked to be sometimes.

 

“God, can you _not_ scream in my ear and then laugh it off?! I already have a headache!” He whined, stopping the recording and shoving the DS-whateverthefuckitwas camera into the older’s hands. “Show it to the perfectionist already! I want to go home!”

“Like I said, no need to call me ‘god’ but I will do that so be patient child,” Yuta patronised, Donghyuck taking his tone in offence.

“I am only four years younger than you!” He shouted, not caring about the sly looks that his best friend and his best friend’s boyfriend shot him. “It’s not even that much of a difference!”

“Oh but it is when you look like you should be in primary school,” Yuta shot back, grinning spectacularly at him before laughing and heading over to Taeyong to show the recording of the dance practice. Huffing and marching over to Mark, Donghyuck huffed once more beside his best friend and acting even more annoyed when the other raised his eyebrow at him.

“What’s wrong now?” Mark asked him, clearly used to this behaviour that Donghyuck loved to pull whenever he was annoyed. Pouting and turning to Mark, he simply let out a high pitched whine.

“I don’t like Nakamoto Yuta!” He complained, glaring at the older who had turned around to ask what the hell he wanted from him. “He’s too goddamn bright and happy! It pisses me off!”

“ _You’re_ always bright and happy and you piss me off so what the fuck are you talking about?!” Mark retaliated, pushing him lightly and laughing like a maniac when he actually fell on his ass.

“Stop laughing and help me up, you asshole!”

“Oh my god, is the ground feeling okay?”

“Asshole!” _I hate my best friend._

 

“Hyuck, what the fuck are you doing on the floor?” Taeyong’s voice cut through the air as he walked up to where he was, pitifully seated on the floor and whining. Donghyuck had tried his best to not make eye contact with the Japanese male who was hovering behind his best friend’s boyfriend and failed immensely, feeling his heart beat _slightly_ faster when the other male smirked at him.

“Your boyfriend is bullying me!” He screeched, hearing Taeyong snicker as Mark laughed even harder while Yuta simply chuckled. “Don’t laugh, this is serious!”

“Yeah probably about as serious as your crush on freaking Jung Jaehyun,” Mark commented, hearing Taeyong snicker even more as Yuta simply looked lost. _Oh yeah…he’s new here._

“I did not have a crush on Jaehyun-hyung!”

“Yeah right, you were starstruck for a whole month!” Taeyong shot back, moving to bury his head in Mark’s shoulder as his body shook with laughs. _I was not!_

“No I wasn’t!”

“Oh! Remember when he came up to us crying because he had found out that Jaehyun was dating Doyoung?!” Mark asked Taeyong excitedly, the older’s laughs coming out even more now as he held his stomach. Huffing, Donghyuck felt his stomach drop at the teasing since they looked so _happy_ and everyone they knew _accepted_ them and-

 

“Who’s Jaehyun again?”

 

_God, thank you for blessing me with a clueless fucker named Nakamoto Yuta._

 

“The one with the dimples,” Mark answered instead of his boyfriend before Yuta nodded in understanding and realised who Jaehyun was. “But seriously, Hyuck, when will you ever go and find yourself a guy? The trio are going to get together sooner or later and only the gods can help Chenle with Jisung…” _I can get myself a guy!_

“Just you wait, Mark Lee! I’ll go and get myself a guy who puts _your_ boyfriend to shame!” He declared, standing up and walking closer to Mark. He glared at the other who looked down at him in amusement. “I’ll get someone who can cook, clean _and_ tells awesome jokes! I don’t need freaking Jung Jaehyun anymore!”

“Are you serious about this, Hyuck?” Taeyong asked in disbelief, peering at Donghyuck from where his head rested on his younger boyfriend’s shoulder with his back hunched slightly.

“I am! I’ll be able to find someone!” He shouted in frustration, not really knowing why he needed to make this clear. It wasn’t like the other two would believe him anyway…Donghyuck’s type was someone who could stand his spiteful personality and retaliate it with their own - also defined as ‘fictional’.

“I doubt you’ll be able to,” Mark said, shaking his head before someone from the dance club called his boyfriend over and earned a groan from the older male. “Hyung, you have to go to them.”

“I’m comfy here…take me there,” Taeyong replied, disappointed that they had to leave and making Donghyuck thank whatever god was watching down on them in that very moment. _What are you doing thanking gods? You’re a fucking atheist._

“I know you know that you won’t be able to find someone.” The words of the exchange student were unwelcome to his ears but the calm and non-patronising tone was well appreciated.

 

“You don’t know me,” He shot back, words heated since he was a bit annoyed with how his cheeks warmed up in embarrassment in front of the older Japanese male. “I have heaps of people who would be lining up for a chance with me!”

“Really now?” Yuta asked him as he stepped closer to Donghyuck and leaned down slightly as if he was searching for the obvious lie within his face. Luckily, the Japanese male didn’t seem to be very observant and Donghyuck’s acting skills were quite high. “ _Boku ha dou? Chansu ga aru ka?_ ” _Chansu? Huh? And what does that have to do with you?_

“What the fuck is _‘chansu_ ’?!” He asked in annoyance, eyes narrowing at the older when disappointment flickered across his face. _Look, I_ know _my skills in Japanese suck-_

“It’s an expression of frustration, how can you _not_ know?!” Yuta asked him, eyes widening at Donghyuck’s obvious incompetence that the other had probably underestimated. “I thought they taught simple _katakana_ words at the beginning!”

“My teacher doesn’t teach, she sings a verb song that I honestly know off by heart,” Donghyuck deadpanned as the older shook his head and facepalmed, mumbling something in Japanese to himself. “What was that?”

“I was complaining about you. Come on, you wanted to go home, right?” Yuta asked him and the question made Donghyuck nod his head violently. “I’ll take you there, just give me your address.”

“But you live with Taeyong-hyung…” Donghyuck trailed off, assuming that the older got around on public transport and Donghyuck really did not want to take public transport at this hour.

“So?” Yuta asked him, raising an eyebrow. _Just…stop that._

“You don’t have a car,” He stated, seeing amusement fly across the older’s face after he took a moment to translate the sentence in his head.

“No but the university gave me one to use for the scholarship since my design for it was better than all the other factions,” Yuta explained, taking out car keys from his pocket as he grabbed Donghyuck’s wrist and encased it with a warmth that wasn’t too hot or too cold - the right temperature for Donghyuck to handle.

“There were other factions?” _There were other people competing for the scholarship?_

“I’ll tell you all about it on the drive to your place. For now, let’s focus on accurately typing your address into my navigator that is programmed in Japanese.” _Oh great…more Japanese…_

 

 _So that just means more headaches and more times where I get judged by Nakamoto_ fucking _Yuta…_

 

_Just great._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Chotto matte / ちょっとまって / ちょっと待って

             = Wait a moment / wait a second

 

Massugu / まっすぐ

             = Straight / (in this context) go straight

 

Boku ha dou? / 僕はどう？

             = What about me?

 

Chansu ga aru ka? / チャンスがあるか？

             = Do I have a chance?

 

Chansu / チャンス

             = Chance

 

NOTE (Although this is pretty much self-explanatory, I felt the need to add it in just in case anyone was confused since more situations like this will come up):

The reason why Donghyuck doesn't know what 'chance' in Japanese is and can't guess that  _chansu_ (チャンス) is 'chance' is because the two of them are conversing in Korean. In Korean, 'chance' is  _giheo_ (기회) and obviously doesn't sound like  _chansu_ (チャンス) at all. It was previously mentioned (in passing) that's Donghyuck's English skills in the story are 'below satisfactory to say the least' and since many  _katakana_ words are taken from the English language, Donghyuck is going to have a lot times where the meaning of Yuta's sentence could easily be worked out by an  _English speaker_ and not know what he means. I'm sure that this was self-explanatory but I felt the need to clear this up now to prevent any confusion both in this chapter and in future chapters. 


	6. What A Tsundere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck was whining on the floor in a very annoying but very endearing way.
> 
> What a tsundere.

Nakamoto Yuta _thought_ that he had his feelings under control…he _thought_ that he would be able to choose who to like after the whole fiasco with his ex - Mina...

 

But if that was the case, then why was he so nervous as he lightly guided the younger male with skin that reminded him of the sun to get the angles he needed to rotoscope?

 

If that was the case, why was his heart beating so fast and his Korean becoming more broken as time went on?

 

If that was the case, why didn’t he want to pull away?

 

_Stop catching feelings, you’re leaving in three years._

 

“Ah! _Chotto matte_! Stop! Stop!” He whispered suddenly, noticing that they were so close to cutting out some of the dancers in the frame. He waited until they changed formation before giving more instructions to the smaller male who was currently very stiff in his grip. “Now slowly… _massugu_...uh…straight.” He saw the other nod before following the other forward, making sure to lightly tug on the other’s hands in case he was going too fast. Trying to ignore the questioning gaze that Taeyong was giving him as the choreography came to an end, Yuta let out a small sigh of relief that he hadn’t done anything to embarrass himself just yet.

 

_Stop it heart, there’s no point in trying._

 

“And we’re done!” He screamed, trying to get all of the dancers to hear him and getting a squawk from the smaller male who was still pressed up against his chest, trying his best to break free. _Taeyong should be happy with this one._ Laughing at the other, Yuta finally let him go and watched in amusement as Donghyuck glared at him.

“God, can you _not_ scream in my ear and then laugh it off?! I already have a headache!” The other whined, finally stopping the recording on the DSLR camera and forcefully giving it to him. “Show it to the perfectionist already! I want to go home!” _We all do, Donghyuck…you’re not the only one…_

“Like I said, no need to call me ‘god’ but I will do that so be patient child,” He chided, raising his eyebrow at the other when he gasped.

“I am only four years younger than you!” Yuta tried to hold in his laughter and ignored the looks that Taeyong and Mark were giving him from behind Donghyuck. “It’s not even that much of a difference!” _Oh but it is when I’m leaving in three years…_

“Oh but it is when you look like you should be in primary school,” He retorted, enjoying the way that Donghyuck’s cheeks got a slight tint on them. Grinning at his accomplishment, Yuta laughed and got the recording of the dance practice up on the DSLR to show Taeyong who was currently drinking water.

“Here you go,” He said, playing the recording for the other who watched intensely. When it was over, Taeyong smiled at him and thanked him for recording it.

“I wasn’t the one holding the camera,” He replied, eyes telling Taeyong that he needed to thank someone else.

“Yeah because you were too busy feeling my boyfriend’s best friend up.” Was Taeyong’s sly reply before he walked over to the two younger males who were bickering. Once Yuta followed, he could only watch in amusement once more since Mark was laughing until the point where breathing was practically impossible and Donghyuck…Donghyuck was whining on the floor in a very annoying but very endearing way.

 

_What a tsundere._

 

“Hyuck, what the fuck are you doing on the floor?” He heard Taeyong ask the other as he walked over to the whining male with Yuta noticing that Donghyuck was avoiding his eyes. _Did I do something wrong?_ However, when their eyes _did_ meet, Yuta smirked at him for shits and giggles and tried to suppress his laughter even more.

“Your boyfriend is bullying me!” _How loud can this kid even screech?_ “Don’t laugh, this is serious!” _Sure it is._

“Yeah probably about as serious as your crush on freaking Jung Jaehyun.” He heard Mark say, Taeyong snickering as Donghyuck had a look of betrayal on his face. _Who’s Jung Jaehyun?_

“I did not have a crush on Jaehyun-hyung!”

“Yeah right, you were starstruck for a whole month!” Taeyong protested as he buried his head in Mark’s shoulder, both of them shaking with quiet laughs. _Yeah but who is this guy?_

“No I wasn’t!”

“Oh! Remember when he came up to us crying because he had found out that Jaehyun was dating Doyoung?!” He heard Mark ask Taeyong just to annoy the youngest even more and it was at this point that Yuta _needed_ to know who this mystery person was. _Why am I so curious again?_

“Who’s Jaehyun again?” He asked, seeing Donghyuck do an action from where he was still seated on the floor that looked like he was thanking the gods.

“The one with the dimples,” Mark answered for him, making Yuta nod in understanding and to make a mental note on who this Jung Jaehyun was. “But seriously, Hyuck, when will you ever go and find yourself a guy? The trio are going to get together sooner or later and only the gods can help Chenle with Jisung…”

“Just you wait, Mark Lee! I’ll go and get myself a guy who puts _your_ boyfriend to shame!” The sight of the younger declaring his obvious non-existent love life was quite comical to Yuta since Donghyuck had gotten up and walked over to Mark, not noticing the patches of grass that were stuck to his jeans. “I’ll get someone who can cook, clean _and_ tells awesome jokes! I don’t need freaking Jung Jaehyun anymore!”

“Are you serious about this, Hyuck?” Taeyong asked the younger, looking up from where his head was on Mark’s shoulder. _Taeyong…your neck is going to hurt later from the strain…_

“I am! I’ll be able to find someone!” Donghyuck shouted in frustration with Yuta making mental notes for possible blackmail to use in the future. _He seems like he knows that he can’t find someone but has too much pride to admit it._

“I doubt you’ll be able to,” Mark replied, shaking his head just before someone from the dance club called Taeyong over, Taeyong groaning afterwards. “Hyung, you have to go to them.” _Ah, what a caring boyfriend you are Mark…normal people would have laughed._

“I’m comfy here…take me there.” _And this is the first time I’ve seen Taeyong like this…good job, Mark Lee._

 

“I know you know that you won’t be able to find someone.”

 

The words were out of his mouth once the couple was gone and Nakamoto Yuta knew that he was going to get in trouble one day due to his lack of a brain to mouth filter.

 

“You don’t know me.” Was the spiteful reply from the younger, Yuta admiring the way that his cheeks bloomed a lovely hue of red. “I have heaps of people who would be lining up for a chance with me!”

“Really now?” He asked, stepping closer just to test the waters and give himself a glimpse of what he could have if he wasn’t leaving later down the track. _This is a bad decision, Yuta. You can’t…it wouldn’t be fair to him for you to leave._ “ _Boku ha dou? Chansu ga aru ka?”_

“What the fuck is _‘chansu_ ’?!”

 

Yuta didn’t know why he was so disappointed nor why the innocent question made him feel like shit.

 

_What the hell were you expecting? For him to actually guess what you meant?_

 

“It’s an expression of frustration, how can you _not_ know?!” He forced out, eyes widening just to hide his disappointment even more. “I thought they taught simple _katakana_ words at the beginning!”

“My teacher doesn’t teach, she sings a verb song that I honestly know off by heart.” The other deadpanned, making Yuta shake his head and bring his hand up to his forehead. “ _Mouchiron…kare ha shiranai deshou ne…hontou ni…zannen dane…ahhh…saiakuda…_ ”

“What was that?” _Nothing you need to know._

“I was complaining about you. Come on, you wanted to go home, right?” Yuta quickly bullshitted and asked, Donghyuck nodding his head so much that he was afraid it would come off. “I’ll take you there, just give me your address.”

“But you live with Taeyong-hyung…” He heard Donghyuck say quietly, probably assuming that he relied on public transport and not the transport that he had received from the scholarship.

“So?” He asked, raising his eyebrow at the other, challenging him once more.

“You don’t have a car.” Taking a moment to translate the quiet sentence that he barely heard, Yuta couldn’t help but stare at the younger’s face as he tried to hold in his laughter.

“No but the university gave me one to use for the scholarship since my design for it was better than all the other factions,” He explained, brandishing his car keys from his pocket and grabbing Donghyuck’s wrist just for shits and giggles (it wasn’t shits and giggles when his heart involuntarily sped up at the contact).

“There were other factions?” _Well yeah…Japan’s pretty big…_

“I’ll tell you all about it on the drive to your place. For now, let’s focus on accurately typing your address into my navigator that is programmed in Japanese,” He retorted, smiling when he heard a groan from the other. _This car ride is going to be pretty fun…_

 

_I never seem to have a dull second when I’m with you, Lee Donghyuck…_

 

_And that to me is better than any day I had spent in Japan._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations (same as the last chapter plus more):

Mouchiron / もうちろん

             = Of course

 

Kare ha shiranai deshou ne / 彼は知らないでしょうね / かれはしらないでしょうね

           = He wouldn't know

 

Hontou ni zannen dane / 本当に残念だね / ほんとうにざんねんだね

           = It really sucks / It's such a pity / It really is a shame

 

Saiakuda / 最悪だ / さいあくだ

           = This is the worst / It's the worst / It's awful


	7. Navigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me? Being the basis or inspiration for an animation? Yeah right.

“Why the hell is this so hard to navigate?!” Donghyuck exclaimed once he tried to input his address into the goddamn navigator for the third time. He had managed to accidentally turn it off the first time but then proceed to make it direct them to the nearest KFC the second time accidentally (not that he was complaining about grabbing fried chicken though…it was just that he had no money on him).

“Look, just tell me your address,” Yuta exasperated, fingers delicately plucking out his navigator from Donghyuck’s hold once he saw that Donghyuck had managed to open up its settings. “I _am_ the Japanese guy here.” Huffing out and grumbling his address, Donghyuck glared at the navigator that was in the older male’s fingers.

“Yeah, I don’t know what you’re saying when you sound like the Grudge,” Yuta piped up, voice annoyingly cheerful as he chuckled at Donghyuck’s actions, patiently waiting for him to say his address again. Slowly and clearly stating his address just to piss off the other even more (which he succeeded because Yuta lightly pushed him), Donghyuck tried not to think about how he was _alone_ in a _car_ with Nakamoto _fucking_ Yuta.

“Try not to glare so much, it ruins how adorable you are.” Groaning internally at the sentence Donghyuck simply turned his glare from the window to the other’s face, making it more intense.

“Your navigator’s annoying,” He stated, watching Yuta chuckle at him once more as he bang to start the car.

“Maybe you just need to improve your Japanese,” Yuta replied easily, finally focusing on the road as he exited the student car park of the university. “Well the writing aspect at least.”

“I guess…so, why did you choose Korea?” He asked the other, diverting his attention away from the older male to gaze at the lamp lit streets as they went down the road. Ignoring the occasional directions in Japanese that came from the navigator, Donghyuck found that talking to Nakamoto Yuta was something that fell in place easily - as if it was just another necessary function like breathing or walking. _He’s surprisingly easy to have small talk with._

“I have online friends here and I took Korean as a subject in high school. You could probably say that I didn’t want my studying to go to waste,” Yuta answered, Donghyuck humming at the response. “Why did you choose to study Japanese?”

“I like games and I like anime. I don’t have any other reason,” He answered honestly yet sheepishly, suddenly feeling afraid since Yuta could be judging him. Instead, Donghyuck heard something that he never really thought would be something that the other would say.

 

“How about being in an anime? I could rotoscope you.”

 

_Me? Being the basis or inspiration for an animation? Yeah right._

 

“I’m not very…” Trailing off and not knowing what he was going to describe, Donghyuck was quite grateful when Yuta cut in.

“Mark told me that you like to act. I can always film you and then animate you - it would be great practice for both of us,” Yuta explained, making Donghyuck turn to look at him just in time to see a small smile appearing on his lips. “I also want to know you more since I _do_ have to tutor you.” _You want to know me?_

“I’m not a very interesting person…”

“I never said you weren’t but tonight was fun. I didn’t feel bored.” Donghyuck didn’t expect his heart to flutter at that nor did he expect his cheeks to burn at that. _He said that he wasn’t bored around me…he had_ fun.

“I-”

“It’s only if you want to!” He heard Yuta hastily add on, probably taking his dumbfounded reply as hesitation. “It’s just…I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

“In a long time? What exactly did you do in Japan?” He asked, vaguely aware that the other may not answer his question due to privacy reasons. He heard Yuta hum before opening his mouth once more to answer, the lights from other car headlight’s illuminating his face and emphasising it’s almost perfect structure.

“Japan was just boring to me. I mean, sure, we have robots and anime and gaming facilities but…all of that became… _boring_ ,” Yuta explained before sighing and coming to a halt at a red light. Donghyuck saw him glance sideways at him before the light turned green once more. “That’s why I tried out for the graphic design scholarship when it came to Osaka.”

“Oh! You mentioned there were other factions right?” Donghyuck asked, genuinely curious as to how the whole scholarship deal worked and he saw Yuta smile bitterly at his question.

“Yeah, it was actually my ex who told me that it was going to the Osaka faction. Her name’s Mina and she’s from the Kobe area. Both of us ended up winning in our factions and we had to come here together,” Yuta reported almost monotonously, making Donghyuck wonder what he had done wrong to take away the colour and annoyingly happy vibe in his voice.

“Was it hard?” He asked, wanting to know more about the mysterious Japanese male who made everyone around him smile and yet…Yuta, himself, obviously couldn’t bring himself to smile about certain topics.

“What? Coming here with Mina or doing the scholarship?” After a short while of thinking, Donghyuck had settled on his answer.

 

“Both.” _I want to know more about you, Nakamoto Yuta. Maybe you’re not as bad as I thought you were._

 

“Well, the scholarship competition was hard. I had to design _something_ to hand in and so I stuck to my strengths and made an animation,” Yuta said before he took in a shaky breath, Donghyuck feeling himself do the same as he watched the older. “Coming here with Mina…that was probably harder. We…we didn’t really end on good terms and that’s mostly my fault.”

“What happened between you two?”

“She cheated on me with some other guy - had been doing it for six months before I found out,” Yuta answered, smile dropping entirely and a frown surfacing on his face. “It really sucked finding out so we fought and then I broke it off.” Not knowing what to say to that, Donghyuck averted his gaze to his lap and began to fiddle with his fingers - desperate to do anything that will let him shrink or disappear. The rest of the car ride was silent with Donghyuck sensing that Yuta was taking subtle glances at his form, probably worried looks that Donghyuck didn’t want to see or else this guilt would manifest to swallow him whole. _Why did you even ask that, Lee Donghyuck?!_ Slowly but surely, the car came to a stop as the navigator said _‘anata no migi ni atesaki ga arimasu’_.

“Hey, Donghyuck.” He heard Yuta whisper before the older reached over to lightly touch his shoulder, warmth seeping through his thin shirt as his eyes were filled with so much concern that Donghyuck’s heart twisted in pain at it. _He’s so close…_ “We’re here.”

“Yeah, I…thank you and…I’m sorry,” He hurriedly whispered back, shrugging off Yuta’s hand and forcefully opening the door to run out. Slamming the car door shut, he speed walked all the way to the front door of his house, shoved his key and turned it to let himself in and leaned on the closed door while ignoring his mum’s questions and inquiries about his late arrival. Taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself, Donghyuck _hated_ how much of an effect Nakamoto _fucking_ Yuta had on him.

 

_Fucking hell…this can’t be happening…_

 

_No way can this be happening._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Anata no migi ni atesaki ga arimasu / 貴方の右に宛先があります。/ あなたのみぎにあてさきがあります。

             = The destination is on your right. / Your destination is to your right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm straying away from my original plan but hopefully YuHyuck will prevail~!


	8. Don't Let This Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah, okay. Let’s not go to KFC."

“Yeah, okay. Let’s _not_ go to KFC,” Yuta sighed out as he reached out to grab the navigator off the younger male who was in the passenger seat of his car. _I don’t have enough money to spend on both of us until next week’s scholarship allowance._

“Why the hell is this so hard to navigate?!” He heard the other complain and bit back a laugh, knowing that the other would complain even more if he had laughed at him (even if he was a bit cute but no one needed to know that he thought that). 

“Look, just tell me your address,” He said as he finally took the navigator from the younger tanned male and felt a smile surfacing when he saw the familiar layout of the navigator’s settings. “I _am_ the Japanese guy here.” Still smiling, Nakamoto Yuta punched in the correct digits and letters that the other was reciting, not wanting to get the address wrong. However, he realised that he couldn’t really understand what the other was saying when obvious hate was overriding his words and twisting the sound of the vowels. 

“Yeah, I don’t know what you’re saying when you sound like the Grudge,” He stated as teasingly as he could without offending the other, chuckling at Donghyuck who pouted and clearly stated his address again in a flat tone that made Yuta snort and push him lightly. _Well, at least he has humour._

“Try not to glare so much, it ruins how adorable you are.” _Not that you aren’t adorable when you glare but…it would be nice to not be on the receiving end of that glare all the time, you know._

“Your navigator’s annoying,” Donghyuck stated with Yuta chuckling and starting the car, operating the gears with ease and familiarity. 

“Maybe you just need to improve your Japanese,” He replied, keeping his eyes on the road despite how much he wanted to look at the male beside him. “Well the writing aspect at least.”

“I guess…so, why did you choose Korea?” He heard Donghyuck as him, genuinely curious as to why he chose Korea. _Why did I choose Korea? So that I could actually escape Japan and the toxic people I know there._

“I have online friends here and I took Korean as a subject in high school. You could probably say that I didn’t want my studying to go to waste,” Yuta answered instead of the true reason, feeling only slightly guilty at withholding the truth from the younger. He heard Donghyuck hum and could sense another question coming, so naturally, Yuta asked one to divert the subject of conversation to the other’s life. “Why did you choose to study Japanese?”

“I like games and I like anime. I don’t have any other reason.” Yuta found himself smiling at that and suddenly had the urge to use the other as a sort of…muse for his future projects. _He likes to act, right?_

 

“How about being in an anime? I could rotoscope you.”

 

“I’m not very…”

“Mark told me that you like to act. I can always film you and then animate you - it would be great practice for both of us,” He explained, cringing at how forceful he sounded but he also knew how much he wanted to do this…how much he wanted to get to know _Donghyuck_. “I also want to know you more since I _do_ have to tutor you.”

“I’m not a very interesting person…” _Any person who manages to make my navigator go to KFC is interesting enough._

“I never said you weren’t but tonight was fun. I didn’t feel bored,” He replied, surprised at how genuine his statement was and how much he had meant it. 

“I-”

“It’s only if you want to!” He found himself adding on, eyes focused as he manoeuvred the car to turn around a corner without killing the two of them. “It’s just…I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” _Haven’t had this much fun since Mina and I went on a date._

“In a long time? What exactly did you do in Japan?” He heard Donghyuck ask, memories of Mina and their wonderful dates flooding his memory as he forced himself to come back to reality. _Stop, you’ve escaped Japan. It’s time to let her go._

“Japan was just boring to me. I mean, sure, we have robots and anime and gaming facilities but…all of that became… _boring_ ,” He explained, sighing and gently coming to a halt in front a red light. Quickly glancing at Donghyuck (and feeling his cheeks heat up a bit when he saw that Donghyuck was already staring back at him with a curious look on his face), Yuta waited until the light turned green again before talking again. “That’s why I tried out for the graphic design scholarship when it came to Osaka.” _You know that isn’t true._

“Oh! You mentioned there were other factions right?” He heard the other ask, curiosity coming out once more at the mention of the scholarship. Smiling bitterly, Yuta could imagine the other’s bright eyes as he stared at another car’s rear lights. 

“Yeah, it was actually my ex who told me that it was going to the Osaka faction. Her name’s Mina and she’s from the Kobe area. Both of us ended up winning in our factions and we had to come here together,” He replied, voice unintentionally coming out monotone to prevent himself from actually rekindling his feelings for his ex-girlfriend. 

“Was it hard?” The question was so small and so innocent that Yuta would have thought he had missed it if he couldn’t feel the other’s stare. 

“What? Coming here with Mina or doing the scholarship?”

 

“Both.” _Well that’s a first. No one’s ever cared about my side of the break up._

 

“Well, the scholarship competition was hard. I had to design _something_ to hand in and so I stuck to my strengths and made an animation,” He said, taking in a shaky breath so that he didn’t break down in front of the younger. No way was he, Nakamoto Yuta, going to show him, Lee Donghyuck, how weak he was. “Coming here with Mina…that was probably harder. We…we didn’t really end on good terms and that’s mostly my fault.”

“What happened between you two?” _A whole bunch of shit and lies._

“She cheated on me with some other guy - had been doing it for six months before I found out,” He answered, feeling his smile fade away as a scowl threatened to surface. “It really sucked finding out so we fought and then I broke it off.” Yuta appreciated the silence and space that Donghyuck had given him after but he also wanted the younger to distract him - to tell him that Mina was someone who he could get over. Every so often, he found himself craving to see the other just to make sure he was alright, only to be disappointed when he glanced and saw Donghyuck staring outside of the passenger window. _Did I say something wrong? I just wanted to get along and know him better…_

 

“ _Anata no migi ni atesaki ga arimasu._ ” 

 

As he came to a stop, Yuta reached over to gently touch Donghyuck in an attempt to bring him out of whatever was taking over his mind at that very moment. 

“Hey, Donghyuck,” He whispered, scared that the other would get mad. His hand felt warm as it rested on Donghyuck’s shoulder and wondering if Donghyuck felt as warm as he did. “We’re here.”

“Yeah, I…thank you and…I’m sorry.” He heard the other whisper before forcefully shrugging off his hand and opening the door in a hurry. Yuta could only watch as the car door slammed shut with Donghyuck speed walking towards the front door, barely even looking back at him. He felt his stomach twist and lurch at the departure of the other, wanting to know the reason as to _why_ Donghyuck had reacted in this way. Taking deep breaths and gently resting his head on the steering wheel, Yuta rested his head on the steering wheel gently and sighed, trying to swallow down his concern for the other along with his increasing heart beat. 

 

_Don’t. You’re leaving in three years._

 

_You can’t let this happen._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drumroll*
> 
> WE HAVE REACHED 100 KUDOS GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Oh my god this feels great because I knew that this story probably wouldn't get a lot of recognition since it's such a rare pair but holy shit 100 KUDOS!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Seriously, thank you so much!! Keep smiling!!
> 
> (btw will be updating a few hours later as a celebration since this is a big thing for me ^_^)


	9. Even Now / 今も

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Were you crying? Why? You weren’t actually working on that animation, were you?

“What the hell are you doing here?” Mark asked the younger once he had opened the door to reveal a tear stained Donghyuck with a black eye.

“Your mum said you were here…?” Donghyuck answered unsurely, not knowing if he was welcomed here or not. His left eye stung with the remnants of his father’s outrage at his sexuality, the familiar pain numbing as he focused on his best friend who sighed in front of him. _Well I mean…it is pretty early…_

“I mean,” Mark stepped closer, still blocking the entrance to a house that wasn’t even his, pointing to his left eye. “What the hell is _this_ doing here?”

“Let me in and I’ll talk,” Donghyuck shot back, wanting nothing more than to cry at that very moment and maybe have some of Taeyong’s comfort cookies.

“Mark? Who is it?” Taeyong’s voice called, the older going into Donghyuck’s view shortly after, donning an apron and a smile that turned into a frown. “Again?”

“Yeah,” He replied, glancing from his feet to Taeyong’s eyes in a silent question of whether he could enter the house. He heard Taeyong sigh in a similar fashion to his boyfriend before nodding and walking away, mumbling something about making a cake. As he stepped in and took off his shoes, Donghyuck noticed the very Yuta-shaped lump on one of the couches that was rising with every deep breath that the older took.

“He’s sleeping and has been for the past two hours,” Mark whispered to him once he had stared for too long at the older Japanese male underneath the fluffy blanket. “He had worked on his project from seven last night to three hours ago. Taeyong caught him when he woke up and made him take some tea that he crushed sleeping pills into so he’s going to be out cold for a few more hours.” There was so much that Donghyuck had wanted to say, so much that he _knew_ he should say so that his image of hating Nakamoto Yuta would still be valid but…

 

…seeing Nakamoto Yuta sleeping and hearing that he had worked for so long on his project made Donghyuck admire him in a way that worried him.

 

“Take a seat on the other couch and I’ll get the medical kit,” Mark instructed him, glaring at Donghyuck until the younger began to walk towards the free couch. When Mark had left to go to the bathroom, Donghyuck couldn’t resist sneaking closer to the sleeping male and crouching to observe the top half of his face that was exposed. The dark circles under his eyes were evident, even when he was asleep, and Donghyuck _swore_ that he saw tear streaks trailing from the corners of his eyes. _Were you crying? Why? You weren’t actually working on that animation, were you?_

“Take better care of yourself or you’ll end up dead, you idiot,” He heard himself whisper to the older, freezing and getting ready to run when Yuta moved in his sleep to find a better position.

 

“Like you’re one to talk. You always come here for advice, escape or medical treatment.”

 

This time, Donghyuck panicked and fell back on the floor, hands landing behind him as he turned his head to see Taeyong staring down at him with so much worry in his eyes. He noticed Mark peeking over his boyfriend’s shoulder, holding the medical kit close to him and staring at Donghyuck with tiny pieces of disappointment flickering in his irises. _Don’t be disappointed when I can’t get away from them._

“Just patch me up already,” He grumbled, getting up and moving to the other couch as Taeyong shoved him over to sit to his left as Mark sat to his right, opening the kit to grab the necessary materials to treat the swelling of his injured eye.

“What did he do this time?” Taeyong asked him and Mark wordlessly grabbed his face and began dabbing different types of packs on his injury with Donghyuck blindly trusting the other due to this having been done millions of times before.

“Got super drunk and took out his homophobic fears out on me,” He replied bitterly, sensing the overload of bite in his words as Mark’s frown grew bigger.

“This is getting to the point where it could be considered as abuse, Hyuck,” Mark chastised, proceeding to tell him to stay still as he continued to treat the swelling on his eye. “You don’t have to go through this.”

“There’s no point in fighting back if they all just see me as a dead weight,” He retaliated, their words resembling a broken record as they gradually grew louder, turning into shouts, just like every other time.

“There’s no point if you keep getting hurt like this!” Taeyong shouted from beside him, standing up to loom over Donghyuck who was stuck sitting on the couch until Mark made sure that his swelling had stopped.

“But what’s the point of fighting back if I’m only going to be reminded of how _weak_ and _unwanted_ I am?!” He retaliated, standing up and moving closer to the older who frowned even more. “I’m _nothing_ like how they want me to be! They wanted a fun kid but they got a sorry ass excuse instead!” Donghyuck saw Mark move to attempt to stop the fight occurring when two words made all three males freeze and break the script that they had acted out millions of times before.

 

“You’re fun.”

 

The small voice was followed by the rustling of a blanket and the sound of someone grunting as they searched for the reason why they had woken up in the first place. Donghyuck watched as Yuta - Nakamoto _fucking_ Yuta - stood up before literally falling on top of him, making him waver and forcing him to regain balance so as to not fall down. He felt Yuta bury his head into his shoulder, warm breaths ghosting over his skin before he heard those words again.

 

“You’re fun. I had fun with you last week. _Sugoku tanoshikatta…soshite, anata ha sugoku…utsukushikatta…ima mo…daisuki..._ ”

 

He didn’t know how to respond, he didn’t know if he should even respond to this in the first place, but Donghyuck knew one thing and that was that his heart was beating rapidly from where it lay within his chest that was being pressed up against the sleepy older male. It wasn’t long before he felt Yuta drop all of his weight on his skinny frame, leaving Donghyuck to panic before Mark quickly swooped in to help him bear the weight of the exchange student as light snores were heard once more.

“And he said that he wasn’t interested in you,” Taeyong commented in amusement before shaking his head and moving towards the kitchen. “I’m baking a cake by the way! I hope you’re hungry, Hyuck!” The older called back to them, Mark’s expression showing how baffled he was and mirroring Donghyuck’s own.

“Uh…yeah! I’ll eat it!” He dumbly shouted back, hearing Taeyong’s bright laughter before focusing his gaze on the exchange student who was literally in his arms.

 

_You’re fun._

 

_I had fun with you last week._

 

_But what was that last bit? He said it so softly too…_

 

“I wonder what all of that was about,” Mark wondered out loud, pulling Donghyuck out of his thoughts while also pulling the corners of his mouth up into a smile. _Oh I think I know what’s up…Taeyong-hyung’s reaction pretty much gave it away._

“I think I have a feeling as to what it was about,” He whispered back, surprised to find that he quite liked the possibility of Nakamoto Yuta seeing him as a fun person and maybe something more.

“What’s it about then?” Mark asked him, eyes as wide as saucers that made Donghyuck release a laugh that nearly made him drop the exchange student. _Oh my god, my best friend is so stupid. This is why I don’t have a wingman._

“See this is why you had to wait so long for Taeyong-hyung, Mark-hyung,” He stated, shaking his head before readjusting his grip on the sleeping male. “Help me move him back to his room.”

“Wait, Hyuck, what did you mean?” Mark questioned as he helped him transport Yuta from the living room to his bedroom, Donghyuck stubbornly remaining silent as he focused on the task at hand. “Donghyuck!”

“Don’t worry about it so much, Mark,” He said instead of an answer, not wanting to reveal anything until he was certain of what was happening to both himself and the Japanese male who was now safely in his bed with his blanket thrown haphazardly on top of his sleeping form.

 

“After all, this is where the real fun begins, Nakamoto Yuta.”

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Sugoku tanoshikatta / すごく楽しかった / すごくたのしかった

             = It was really fun / It was very fun

 

Soshite, anata ha sugoku utsukushikatta / そして、貴方はすごく美しかった / そして、あなたはすごくうつくしかった

             = Also, you were very beautiful... / Also, you were really beautiful...

 

 

Ima mo / 今も / いまも

             = Even now / Now (as well)

 

Daisuki / 大好き / だいすき

             = I really like you / I love you (NOTE: 大好き is like a more severe version of 'like' of but it's not really the equivalent to loving someone a lot since the words for 'I love you' in Japanese are typically  _aishiteiru_  [愛している / あいしている])


	10. Wake up, Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wake up, idiot. You’ve been sleeping for far too long and Taeyong-hyung wants to give you food that I should have eaten.”

“Wake up, idiot. You’ve been sleeping for far too long and Taeyong-hyung wants to give you food that I should have eaten.”

 

The first thing that Nakamoto Yuta registered was his own reflection staring back at him in surprise and overlapping someone’s dark iris and pupil.

 

The second thing was the owner of that particular eye and his expression of adoration and fondness that Yuta never thought would have been on the younger’s face.

 

The third thing was the black eye that he decided not to ask about. _What happened to you, Lee Donghyuck?_

 

“Donghyuck, what the hell are you doing in my face?” He asked the younger as he tried to get up but was only held back by another person’s weight on him. Looking down, Yuta wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that the younger boy had situated himself on top of him just to annoy him when he woke up. “And what the hell are you doing on me?”

“Taeyong-hyung told me to wake you up so…wake up,” Donghyuck replied as innocently as someone of his calibre could, blinking at him multiple times as Yuta gave him an annoyed look instead.

“I’m awake already and get off so I can actually get something to eat,” He told the other, holding his stare at the other’s face when he still didn’t get off. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled loudly and made Donghyuck laugh so Yuta counted the little event to be somewhat positive.

“Hyung made some fried eggs and put it on top of some garlic rice for you,” Donghyuck told him as he slowly got off the bed, Yuta’s eyes observing his form and _wow, he actually has some sort of a figure-_ “But Mark-hyung fried the eggs so they’re probably ruined,” Donghyuck finished when his two feet were planted on the ground and he was staring down at Yuta, expecting him to get up as well. However, Yuta couldn’t do anything as he noticed that the bright sunlight was creating wondrous shadows over the younger’s face and showing off his pretty tanned skin-

 

“Hyung? Yuta-hyung? Is everything okay?”

 

The questions of the younger broke the spell but not the image, the itch to grab his camera and take a photo still present as he forced himself out of bed.

“Yeah, yeah…I’m good, just hungry,” He said in mock reassurance since he was _not_ good and he wasn’t _just_ hungry. “Fried eggs, right?”

“Yeah but the eggs are more scrambled than fried,” Donghyuck replied, smile teasing as he led the way out of the room and making Yuta shake his head as he blindly followed the other out to the kitchen. Once they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of Taeyong and Mark in a precarious kiss as Yuta regretted all decisions in his life that led to that one moment-

 

“Where’s my food?” He asked after coughing, not even bothering to wait for the two who took a moment to break their kiss and _still_ stare into each other’s eyes lovingly like the whipped pieces of crap that they were. _Seriously, I’ve known you two for three weeks or something and just get married already._

“In the microwave,” Taeyong replied, voice distant as Yuta moved to grab the bowl that rested inside the microwave and nearly bumping into Donghyuck when he turned around.

“Isn’t that hot?” Donghyuck asked him, pointing to the bowl that wasn’t really burning Yuta’s fingers due to his high level of pain tolerance.

“Not really,” He answered easily, closing his eyes when he heard Mark giggling and speed walking towards the living room so that he could eat without being reminded of his painful single status. Only when he was seated, did he realise that he did not have anything to eat his meal with.

 

“Here, I got you a spoon,” Donghyuck said softly, shyly looking away from him as he held out the metal spoon from where he stood next to the couch.

“Uh…thanks, greatly appreciated,” Yuta found himself replying, carefully taking the spoon and turning the TV on to listen to the latest news that he wouldn’t really care about anyway.

“You better appreciate it, I had to survive war to get that,” Donghyuck huffed, plonking himself down on the couch beside him and glaring at the TV. “Like, don’t they understand that some people don’t want to be reminded of how single they are?!”

“Hey, they’re happy so let them be,” He patronised the other, chuckling when Donghyuck huffed again in frustration. He leaned back on the couch and offered the bowl to the younger. “Want some?”

“No, you eat it,” Donghyuck spat back, his stomach grumbling and telling Yuta a whole other story.

“Your stomach wants it.” _You should eat._

“But you haven’t eaten since you were sleeping so you eat it,” Donghyuck said, glaring at him before taking the spoon out of Yuta’s hand and using it to scoop up some rice and egg. _So he is eating it?_ It was only a moment later when Yuta saw the younger hold the tip of the spoon towards him, stopping only when it reached the seam of his lips. “Say ‘ahhh’, Yuta-chan!”

“I’m older than you, what the hell?” Yuta mumbled, earning yet another glare from the other before sighing and reluctantly opening his mouth, satisfying the other enough. “Aaa-“

 

_I swear he is going to hell._

 

Yuta nearly choked when the younger had shoved the whole spoon in his mouth while he was in the middle of imitating him, shoving it more when Yuta let out a choked cry of ‘ _tomare!_ ’.

“Eat up, Yuta-chan!” Donghyuck said cheerily, making Yuta glare at him before pulling on the younger’s wrist so that the spoon came out of his mouth. Since he was a good guy (to an extent), Yuta had in fact taken all of the food off the spoon and was now in the process of chewing and swallowing while Donghyuck simply looked like the spawn of evil.

“Like I said, I’m _older_ ,” He protested against the childish honorific once he had swallowed, simply watching Donghyuck smile sadistically before taking the bowl from him and scooping up some more rice and egg.

 

“Come on, Yuta-chan! You have to eat to get some energy since you’re _so_ old!”

“I swear I will kill you and not regret it.”

 

After the force feeding session, Yuta was glad to enter the kitchen to find that it was deserted with no whipped couples making out against the counters. Diligently, he washed the dishes with the younger tanned male humming a song beside him as he watched the soap suds cover the bowl and spoon. As he was rinsing the crockery, Yuta heard Donghyuck’s stomach growl and smiled softly at the other. _I knew this would happen._

“Is there anything that you want to eat?” He asked the younger who looked at him in surprise, rosy cheeks of embarrassment not fading from the other’s face.

“Me? No…no, it’s okay.” _It’s not okay._

“How about I cook something? I’m pretty sure there’s enough food in here for me to make a decent meal for you,” He replied, looking at the other for some silent form of permission. He was only met with a small and jerky nod that seemed forced and even more colouring in the younger’s cheeks. He felt himself smile at the endearing actions. “Any requests?”

 

“Pork belly…”

 

The answer was so soft that Yuta hummed and acted as if he didn’t hear it to prevent disappointing the other if there was no more pork belly in the fridge. Placing the crockery he had washed on the rack and drying his hands, he gingerly opened the fridge and was glad that he found a decent amount of pork belly for one person at the very back of the fridge. Triumphantly holding it up, Yuta smirked at Donghyuck and saw the excitement bloom within the younger’s eyes, his face illuminating with happiness despite the obvious injury around his left eye.

 

“Guess I’m cooking some pork belly then.”

 

Donghyuck’s laugh reached his ears, tone all bubbly and making the butterflies appear in his stomach once more.

 

“I guess you are, Yuta-hyung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in case you guys are interested, I have made a blog!! (God whyyyyyy) It's mainly just for me to keep track of all the stuff I do but if you guys want to request something or ask for advice with writing or whatnot, you can always go there and I'll be happy to see you there! The link is below if anyone wants it (and it has barely anything on it now but hopefully, I'll add more in the future). 
> 
> https://helpmeomg.blogspot.com/
> 
> (I didn't want to put it on my other stories that were completed since it would kinda be annoying so I'll only put my blog link on stories that I update from this point onwards or on new stories that I will create)


	11. I'm Dating My Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “When are you going to stop fourth wheeling with the three idiots?”
> 
> “When are you going to have your voice drop?”

“The university is being a pain in the ass so we have to think of running something to get some money for some green screens,” Doyoung announced once he entered the photography clubroom, disrupting Yuta’s current session of refining some frames on his animation project. “Any ideas?”

“Something with photography,” Kun suggested form beside hi, not looking up from his phone as his thumbs flew across the screen. “We _are_ the photography club for a reason.”

“Why is he so sassy today?” Doyoung asked himself before turning to the other two males in the room who were currently having a photoshoot in the corner of the room. “Do you two have any ideas?” Yuta heard Doyoung ask them as the tall giant got up from his position on the floor, inspecting the pictures of the younger male that he had just taken.

“How about a competition?” Ten piped up from his spot on the stool, jumping up to peer at the photos that Johnny had taken as well. “We can get entrants to pay a fee and then hold a gallery for the winners. Everyone but entrants have to pay and I’m sure that there would be people who would go to be supportive.”

“That’s…not bad…” Yuta commented, looking up from his screen for the first time as he waited for his work to be saved. “Good job, Ten.”

“Fuck you,” Ten laughed out, grabbing the camera out of Johnny’s hands to start snapping some pictures of the other.

“Do you really think people would enter it?” Kun asked them, dubious. _There’s bound to be some people…_ “We don’t even have a prize!”

“You know, some people do it for fun,” Johnny retaliated before getting told off by his shorter boyfriend who wanted him to keep a straight face.

“Maybe we could offer a day with us or something,” He suggested, going back to carefully adding frames to improve fluidity on his animation. “You know, a day with all this equipment and people who know how to use it.”

 

“We’ll make it a month,” Doyoung decided, typing down all of the details on his phone to propose to the university later. Yuta knew that it wouldn’t be that hard to hold an exhibition since the university had its own mini gallery that was half the size of the local one. “But we’ll let the winner organise the dates with us since they might want it for a specific project in the future.”

“Here’s to hoping that some snobby kid doesn’t win,” Ten said as he casually kneeled down to get a picture of Johnny, attempting to take a picture that foreshortened the model. “That would suck big time.”

“Yeah well…we’re the judges,” Doyoung stated, eyeing all four members of the photography club that were present in front of him. “And maybe Jae too.”

“Don’t bring your boyfriend into this,” Johnny warned before Doyoung rolled his eyes, an action that Yuta had expected.

“He’s actually in this club too, in case you forgot,” Doyoung spat out, glaring at the older who shrugged and went back to posing. “He had to explain to the university why all _three_ of our tripods were broken!”

“What _did_ he end up saying about that?” Ten asked, genuinely curious and Yuta vaguely remembered Taeyong mentioning that the two had broken their tripods.

“He said that a car being driven by some idiot ran over them.” _Really believable._

“Wow, bullshitting 101,” Ten replied, chuckling with Johnny after as they went through the photos that they had taken of each other yet again. Yuta sighed before saving his work and unplugging his tablet, taking a look at the time and deciding that he should go back to Taeyong’s place before it was too late.

“Well, we need a way to inform people of this,” Kun pointed out, finally looking up from his phone. “How do we do that?”

“Posters? Flyers? Duh,” He said, ejecting his hard drive and closing his laptop. “How else?”

 

“Who’s going to make it, genius?” Kun asked, completely ignoring his snarky comment as Doyoung hummed.

“How about we all work on something? We all bring in something and we all choose what’s to go on the flyer,” Doyoung suggested and Yuta nodded in agreement along with the rest. “We need a theme or concept though…”

“Surrealism? You know, the whole this is reality warped kind of vibes?” Johnny suggested and Yuta hummed in thought.

“It could work,” He stated and Doyoung nodded his head, typing down the concept into his notes.

“Look at you, Nakamoto. Only been here for a month or so but already helping us so much,” Ten cooed at him, making him chuckle before shoving everything he had brought with him into his backpack.

“I try,” He replied, slinging the backpack on his shoulder as Doyoung began to walk towards the door.

“Well, keep trying because I’m going to try my best to get this approved so we can get those green screens. Once I do, we’re all going to have a month to come up with things for the poster.” He heard Doyoung state as the other exited, causing him to wave to his fellow club members before exiting the room as well.

“Surrealism, huh?” He asked himself as he walked outside of the building, the sunset casting a lovely hue over the city’s buildings as he went towards where his car was parked. “Maybe I’ll do something with a sunset…”

 

~

 

“Chenle, how can you not know what ‘ _ruler_ ’ in Korean is?” Donghyuck found himself questioning the younger male who shrugged in response, the english word of ‘ruler’ feeling foreign as it left his mouth. “You literally use it every day at school!”

“Doesn’t guarantee that I know what it’s called!” He heard the other whine before he leaned back in his chair to massage his temples. “Okay, you know what? Let’s just end this session. Look, it’s sunset.”

“Sure, whatever,” Chenle replied, already packing up his stationery and textbooks into his backpack as Donghyuck did the same. “But we haven’t done a session like this in a while.”

“Yeah, because I’m busy,” He stated, remembering all of the beautiful nights that he had recently spent just chilling in bed and watching random videos on YouTube since he lacked a life. “Really busy.”

“Sure you are, hyung,” Chenle teased, flashing him a mischievous smile that only spelled out trouble. “I heard from Renjun-ge who heard from Jaemin-hyung who heard from Jeno-hyung who heard from Mark-hyung that you’ve been spending a lot of time with the exchange student that Taeyong-hyung is hosting!” _Exchange student? Yuta-hyung?_

“And?” He asked, already walking outside of the school library that was bound to close soon. “Is there a problem?”

“You can bet your gay ass there is!” Chenle shouted after him, letting the door to the library door slam shut behind him as the younger scrambled to catch up. “When are you going to stop fourth wheeling with the three idiots?”

“When are you going to have your voice drop?” He asked the other in response, earning a high pitched laugh in return.

“Maybe when you get together with someone,” Chenle stated before skipping away to go to the bus stop that would take him to Renjun’s apartment. Donghyuck, on the other hand, decided to go to a different bus stop so that he could take a little detour before going home.

 

~

 

“Okay, seriously, what the fuck?” Mark asked him once he opened the door, clearly judging Donghyuck who smiled innocently at him.

“Is that how you treat guests, Mark Lee?” He asked in response before Taeyong appeared from the kitchen wearing an apron with Yuta in tow. “Hi hyungs!”

“Come in, Hyuck,” Taeyong greeted him, smiling softly before glaring at Mark to let the younger take a step into his household. “Mark, let him in.”

“I don’t see why you can’t just camp out at Jeno’s place or something.” He heard Mark mumble as he carefully took off his shoes and set his bag on top of them.

“That’s because Jeno is boring,” He reasoned, making his way to the kitchen where Taeyong and Yuta had retired to. “Mind if I join for dinner?”

“Sure, you know I always cook more in case you come,” Taeyong said in amusement, ruffling his hair with affection before Yuta turned to them with a confused expression settling on his face.

“Always? Do you come here often?” The exchange student asked him and he nodded in response.

“He comes so much that he practically lives here,” Mark said, joining him at the doorway of the kitchen and wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

“ _You_ practically live here,” Yuta stated, pointing a finger at Mark who chuckled.

“Yeah but I’m dating the guy who actually lives here whereas this idiot-” Mark started, pinching his cheek and pulling it to spite him. “-is single as fuck.”

 

“I am not single! I’m just dating my bed!” He protested, knowing how ridiculous the statement sounded but saying it anyway since he knew that the other two in the room would appreciate his humour.

“What a great relationship,” Yuta commented in amusement before Taeyong told him to get some plates to put their food on.

“You bet,” He replied, smile on his lips as he felt Mark look back and forth between the two. “So how is university?” _Really? You’re asking them about university?_

“Oh that reminds me! Do you know anyone who would be interested in entering a photography competition? Like, we have a theme and you can create any image or images you want! If you win, you get one month with the university’s equipment!” Yuta piped up, handing Taeyong another plate so that he could put food on it. _Renjun. Only Renjun in our group would do it._

“When was this discussed?” Taeyong questioned, reaching for another plate that Yuta gave.

“Earlier tonight, actually. Everyone at the club was there except dimple guy,” Yuta answered, making Donghyuck snort in amusement.

“His name is Jaehyun but yeah, I know someone who would do it for fun,” He supplied helpfully, earning a breathtaking smile from Yuta who looked very pleased with his answer.

“Renjun?” Mark asked him and he nodded in response, Taeyong letting out a small ‘I knew it’ from where he was.

“Who’s… _Lonjin_?” Yuta asked, clearly baffled by the foreign name as he handed Taeyong the last plate to fill with food.

“This Chinese friend of mine who likes art,” Donghyuck explained, shoving Mark out of the doorway and exiting himself when he saw Taeyong hand Yuta two plates full of food.

“It’s Renjun. Ren-jun,” Taeyong dictated slowly, allowing Yuta to process the sounds before attempting to replicate the sounds.

 

“Lonjin,” Yuta stated, shaking his head before trying again. “…Ronjin.”

“Close,” Taeyong supplied, picking up the other two plates and heading towards the dining table. “Try again.” He heard Taeyong state as he sat in one of the chairs, next to his best friend.

“Do you think Yuta-hyung will get it right? It took me forever to learn how to say it…” Mark asked him and Donghyuck shrugged in response, not really knowing if the other would be able to grasp the pronunciation of the foreign name.

“Ron-jwin?” Yuta asked, setting down a plate in front of Donghyuck, making Taeyong sigh slightly before shaking his head.

“Just say that faster and you’ll have it,” He said flatly, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to eat unless Taeyong approved of the exchange student’s pronunciation. _I want to eat so hurry up and get it right._

“Then…uh…Renjun?” Yuta asked and Donghyuck watched with delight as Taeyong nodded proudly, patiently waiting for any of the others to start eating since he didn’t want to be the first to start.

“I guess we can dig in, then?” Mark asked for him and Taeyong nodded, causing both Donghyuck and Mark to begin devouring their meals.

“This is delicious, hyung!” He exclaimed with a mouth full of food, making Taeyong groan before Yuta shoved a tissue against his lips to cover up the disgusting sight from the clean freak opposite Donghyuck.

 

Throughout the dinner, Donghyuck couldn’t get how caring Yuta’s act seemed to be nor how pretty Yuta’s laugh sounded out of his head.

 

_Dating my bed…dating my bed…why the fuck am I dating my bed?!_

 

_I can already assume his feelings for me but…_

 

_…what about my feelings for him?_

 

Suddenly feeling the need to glare at something, Donghyuck glared at the piece of meat on his plate before stabbing it with a fork and ignoring Yuta’s soft _‘daijoubu?’_ that came from next to him.

 

_They’re not bad feelings and I’m not as dense as Mark-hyung…_

 

_…yeah, I’ll be fine._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Daijoubu? / だいじょうぶ？ / 大丈夫？

             = Are you okay? / You okay?


	12. Wingman By Default

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on, you’re my best friend which means that you’re my wingman by default!”

“Renjun, hi. Look, Mark,” Donghyuck stated once he sat down in front of his best friend who was studying next to Renjun in the library, ignoring the curious looks that he got in return. “You have to talk to Yuta-hyung for me.”

“Why? You talk to him enough yourself,” Mark replied and Donghyuck sighed dramatically, looking up at Mark with the most _‘are you serious’_ face he could muster.

“Come on, _you’re_ my best friend which means that you’re my wingman by default!” He exclaimed, making Renjun look at him in confusion. “Even though you suck, I actually need a wingman for this!”

“Does Hyuck like someone?” The Chinese male asked Mark who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. Donghyuck simply groaned in frustration.

“I don’t like someone but I think that someone likes _me_ and I need Mark to see if my theory is right,” He explained, waiting for everything to click in Mark’s mind.

“But why would someone like Yuta-hyung like someone like _you_?” Mark retaliated, giving Donghyuck a judgemental stare that he returned.

“I could ask the same thing of Taeyong-hyung, you know…” He replied, sighing briefly before dropping the oncoming statement. “Anyway, can you find out for me?”

“Uh…I can try?” Mark supplied, making Donghyuck groan and run a hand over his face in frustration. “Hey! You said yourself that I would suck!”

“Yeah but-“

 

“Who’s Yuta-hyung?”

 

Renjun’s question made both Donghyuck and Mark to stop arguing as they glanced at each other before looking back at the Chinese male.

 

“Hey, don’t look at me like that!” Renjun exclaimed, furrowing his eyebrows and pouting slightly. “You two never let us know what goes on with your older friends…” Donghyuck opened his mouth to point out that Jisung always knew what was going on until Renjun glared at him. “And no, Jisung doesn’t count since he’s practically Taeyong’s younger brother-in-law.”

“But Taeyong isn’t married,” Mark stated dumbly before Renjun and Donghyuck both gave him dead stares. “What?”

“Have you two met yourselves as a couple?!” Donghyuck asked in exasperation as Renjun nodded his head solemnly. “‘Oh, Baby Lion! Make sure you don’t catch a cold!’” He imitated, lowering his voice in a poor imitation of Taeyong.

“‘Ah! Thanks for your coat, hyung!’” Renjun played along, raising his voice so high in his attempt to be Mark that they both burst out laughing at how ridiculous it sounded. “Seriously, hyung…you two are married already.”

“We are not and plus, we don’t plan on getting married. We’re just dating,” Mark protested as Donghyuck hummed before gasping.

“We were meant to be talking about _my_ problems!” Donghyuck exclaimed before leaning forward and looking at Mark in the eye. “You better find out for me.”

“I’ll just ask Taeyong-hyung what he knows and then we’ll see where to go from there,” Mark replied seriously before Renjun piped up again.

“So what’s this Yuta-hyung like?” The Chinese male asked and Donghyuck made a face that hopefully displayed his irritation towards the older Japanese male.

“He’s an annoying bastard from Japan who stays up late crying under the pretence of working on his animation project,” He answered, seeing Mark nod in agreement as Renjun stared at Donghyuck knowingly.

 

“So you like him.”

 

If Donghyuck was drinking anything at that moment, he surely would have spat it out all over Huang Renjun’s face.

 

“I do _not_!” He protested as Mark simply gave him a calculating stare. _I don’t!_

“ _Please_ , Hyuck,” Renjun sighed out, shaking his head. “You only call people ‘bastards’ when you care for them.” Donghyuck couldn’t help but scoff at Renjun’s claim.

“I call _you_ a bastard, does that mean I like you too?”

“I don’t know, _do_ you?” Renjun slyly teased, making sure to smile innocently at him before Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

“You may be poly but I’m not,” He stated, watching Renjun pout at his statement with his eyebrows furrowing.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being polyamorous-“

 

“Wait, Hyuck…you said ‘does that mean I like you _too_ ’ so…you _do_ like Yuta-hyung!”

 

It was as if all of his thought processes had broken down or gone for a holiday the moment that Donghyuck heard Mark’s words.

 

_Do I like Yuta-hyung like that?_

 

_I mean…he’s funny…_

 

_He’s savage…_

 

_And he’s also really caring…_

 

_And talented…_

 

_He’s really hot too…_

 

_And oh my fucking god, he’s exactly my type-_

 

“Fuck…” He mumbled as he stared at Mark with wide eyes, heart beating faster than it ever did before. “Fuck.”

“You know, for someone who helped me accept that I was gay,” Mark started, giving Donghyuck a deadpanned stare and rested his chin on his hand as he leaned forward on the table for emphasis. “You’re pretty fucking dumb.”

“So I _was_ right!” Renjun exclaimed as Donghyuck felt his cheeks heating up and promptly slammed his head down on the table. He felt someone’s hand - probably Renjun’s - thread through his locks. “Don’t worry, Hyuck, you’ll get through this. Just confess and it’ll all work out fine!”

“Okay, you literally have no right to tell me that,” He protested, slapping away Renjun’s hand as he smirked at the slightly older male. “Take your own advice before you go around telling me to take it.” He saw Renjun’s cheeks heat up slightly at his words and chuckled along with Mark at how flustered the Chinese male had become.

“I-I…Look, _my_ situation is different! I’m _sure_ they like each other and not me!” Renjun whined, pouting so much that it looked like he was going to cry.

“Don’t worry, Jun,” He reassured the other, reaching out to pat the Chinese male’s head. “I was just teasing.”

“You’re a fucking asshole,” Renjun spat out, no real venom in his words as Donghyuck simply chuckled once more.

“But seriously, Hyuck…what are you going to do now?” Mark asked him and Donghyuck sighed before shrugging his shoulders. _Wait and see?_

“Find out if he likes me and we’ll go from there,” He replied easily, hearing Mark sigh before he got out of his chair to exit the library.

“Where are you going?” Renjun asked him, eyes following his movements as he smiled back at the two.

“I’m going to see if I can get some extra work for Japanese!” He shouted back, ignoring the knowing looks that the other two males gave him and hurriedly moving down the school halls to find his Japanese teacher.

 

_Well…I have to be prepared to say ‘please don’t hate me even if you hate me’ in Japanese…have to take precautions because what if he doesn’t like me?_


	13. Define 'It'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I meant it.”
> 
> "Define 'it'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this was originally meant to be very different but it somehow ended up being like this so uh...enjoy?

_Okay, this is more awkward than I anticipated…_

 

Sighing, Donghyuck erased the specific _kanji_ that was wrong by _one fucking stroke_.

 

“Look, I know it’s frustrating but you need to get the strokes right otherwise we’ll think it’s a different _kanji_.” He heard his tutor exasperate for the seventh time in the past hour when he was showing him his speech for an upcoming speaking competition. “It’ll come to you like second nature eventually.”

“Yeah, _eventually_ is the key word here,” He retorted before glaring at the older who raised an eyebrow at him. “Why the hell are we fixing my writing skills when I’m here for _speaking_ tutoring?!”

“Writing and speaking go hand in hand with the other two skills of language, genuis,” Yuta replied in a flat tone and taking a moment to sigh with his eyes closed as Donghyuck noticed the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than before. “It’s just the way it works.”

“But I’m here for my _pronunciation_ or _intonation_ and that kind of shit! Not this stroke bullshit!” He screamed out in frustration, slamming his rubber on the table as he picked up his mechanical pencil once more. “So how did this stroke pattern go?”

“Up then down and then…this thing…and…yeah, that’s close enough,” Yuta commented as he demonstrated the stroke pattern once more in the corner of Donghyuck’s page, leaning forward and causing Donghyuck to unwillingly smell his cologne. _Can he stop being so…my type? Even his cologne is intoxicating and that’s just frustrating!_ “Now, your turn.”

“Uh…this?” He asked when he had finished, his messily written _kanji_ character lying pitifully beside Yuta’s neat one in the corner of the page.

“No, see this bit,” Yuta started, pointing to the bottom left hand corner of the _kanji_ with his pen as Donghyuck leaned closer to see what he had done wrong. “This bit goes like this,” The older finished as he drew over Donghyuck’s stroke, the red correction glaring up at the younger the longer he stared at it to comprehend his mistake.

“Oh! So, like this?” He asked Yuta after he had drawn the _kanji_ once more, looking at him with hopeful eyes that were met with ones of happiness.

 

“Exactly like that! And that’s the second half of ‘to study’!” The older praised him, making his heart swoon with pride at _finally_ doing something right after an hour of constant intonation mistakes. “Now read the rest.” Taking a deep breath, Donghyuck began to shakily read the rest of his speech on what he wanted to study in the future. He had tried his best to stay calm despite the erratic beating of his heart combined with the flips that his stomach loved doing around the older but the comforting hand that was mindlessly fiddling with the short hairs at the back of his neck was quite distracting.

“See this part here,” Yuta cut him off, pointing to the word that Donghyuck had gotten off google translate. “It seems unnatural. What exactly do you mean here?”

“Like…I want to go and become an actor for my own happiness and not anyone else’s,” He explained as he saw Yuta nod slowly, the sounds of the gears that were whirring in the elder’s head practically reaching his own ears.

“Then I think it’s better if you use ‘ _jibun no koufuku no tame ni’_ instead of _‘boku no tame ni’_ since what you put down means that you’re doing the event for yourself.” He heard the older’s reply and couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded since the other seemed so _happy_ that he was helping him with something as trivial as his Japanese homework. “Hyuck?” He heard Yuta call out to him, not being able to react as he kept staring at the fleeing bliss on the other’s face that was being overwritten with concern, hand slipping away from his form to be waved in front of his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“ _Doushite konnani kanpeki desu ka_ ,” He whispered, eyes growing wide when he processed that he had just voiced his thoughts in his second language. _Out of all times for my stupid brain to choose to put Japanese as my main language-_

 

“ _Koko ni iru kara._ ”

 

Hours later, Lee Donghyuck would deny the fact that his heart beat louder and faster than it had ever done before after he had heard that statement as he treasured the words that the older had whispered back in reply.

 

“I’m sorry,” He hastily apologised, averting his eyes from Yuta’s as he began to shove his stationery into his pencil case. “I just remembered that I have something to do and home and I-“

“Hyuck.” He felt Yuta’s warm hand on one of his wrists, forcing the other one to work faster to compensate for his loss until it met the same fate. “Hyuck, look at me.”

“I don’t want to,” He mumbled, stubbornly staring at his Japanese notes that he had yet to close. “What if you treat me differently because of it?”  
“Are you kidding me?” He could hear the ridicule in the older’s voice and hung his head lower in shame, if that was possible. “Hyuck, there is possibly nothing that you could do for me to look at you differently.”

“But I…” He trailed off, taking a quick moment to glance at the older who raised an eyebrow at him. “I called you perfect and that…infers…shit…”

“Oh, I’m actually flattered!” He heard Yuta exclaim in reassurance, seeing the other’s face slide into his view as Yuta had bent over to look up at his face that was still staring at his Japanese notes. The other’s smile was quite blinding for him and only caused his cheeks to heat up in embarrassment. “And if it makes you feel better, you’re about this much away from being perfect in my mind!” Yuta exclaimed once more, lifting up one of his hands to pinch his forefinger and thumb together.

“Yuta-hyung…there’s no space between your fingers,” He deadpanned as Yuta smiled brighter and let his hand fall back to where it previously was on his wrist.

“Then I think you know what that means,” The older whispered before his face was becoming closer and Donghyuck’s cheeks were becoming darker. He felt a pair of lips - Yuta’s - on his forehead as he heard the older Japanese male mumble something to himself. “ _Anata ha mou juubunda kara, hokano hito ga hoshikunai._ ”

 

He couldn’t help the hitch in his breath at the thought of the other wanting no one else but him.

 

“Yuta-hyung…” He mumbled, feeling the loss of warmth as the older moved away to look down at him once more and this time, he found enough courage to lift his head to smile softly at the older. “My dad will be suspicious if I’m out too late. I’m sorry but I really have to go.”

“Okay…” He heard Yuta reply, none of them moving despite the completely valid reason of his strict father as they both began to stare into the other’s eyes. “Do you want me to drive you home?” Letting his eyes wander away from Yuta’s own, he lightly shook his head since his father could see them and assume something that probably would never become true. _I would rather live through the heartbreak with no black eyes than do it with two._

“I have to finish packing up my things,” He whispered, already missing the older’s constant warmth against his wrists as they were freed almost immediately. “I…I’ll see you next week, Yuta-hyung.” He didn’t hear the other make any sound as he zipped up his backpack and began to walk towards the door of Taeyong’s house that hosted only them at that moment. Fiddling with the locks, he tried not to comprehend the sting in his eyes that were from either happiness (Yuta didn’t reject him!) or sadness (Yuta probably didn’t figure out that he liked him in that way).

“Hyuck?” He heard the exchange student call out to him from behind once he had undone the locks, causing him to hum to indicate that he was listening. “I meant it.”

“Define ‘it’,” He snapped while refraining from turning around, the want for clarification rising since he hated beating around the bush. He heard Yuta take a deep breath before some shuffling of feet were heard and Yuta’s presence was closer than before.

 

“Everything I said. I mean it.”

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Kanji / かんじ  
             = One of the three scripts of Japanese. These are the characters that are derived from Chinese and each _kanji_ has a specific meaning that no other _kanji_ has. There are also combinations of certain  _kanji_ that create meanings based on the characters as well which is shown in the moment where Yuta helps Donghyuck write the second half of a word (for example, the  _kanji_ for the verb 'to study' is 勉強（する） _[benkyou(suru)]_ where 勉  _[ben]_ means 'study/a study' and 強  _[kyou]_ means 'to strengthen'. With these two specific characters, you get the meaning 'strengthening a study/strengthening study' which (when placed with the verb to do  _[suru]_ ) means 'to strengthen a study' or 'to study'.)

 

Jibun no koufuku no tame ni / 自分の幸福のために / じぶんのこうふくのために  
             = For my own happiness / for the sake of my own happiness / for the purpose of my own happiness

 

Boku no tame ni / 僕のために / ぼくのために  
             = For myself / for the sake of myself / for my own purpose

 

Doushite konnani kanpeki desu ka / どうしてこんなに完璧ですか / どうしてこんなにかんぺきですか  
             = Why are you this perfect? / Why are you perfect this much? (literal translation)

 

Koko ni iru kara / ここに居るから / ここにいるから  
             = Because I am here

 

Anata ha mou juubunda kara, hokano hito ga hoshikunai / あなたはもう十分だから、ほかの人が欲しくない / あなたはもうじゅうぶんだから、ほかのひとがほしくない  
             = You are already enough so I do not want anyone else / You are already enough so I do not want other people (literal translation)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS FOR THE 150+ KUDOS GUYS OMFG I NEVER THOUGHT THIS STORY WOULD REACH THAT FIGURE BUT HERE WE ARE~!


	14. Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Just someone? Nakamoto Yuta! Tell me what’s going on in Korea!” He groaned at her reaction since he knew that she would have reacted in this way. “Is it…the guy that Taeyong-nii told me about?”

“Nii-san…are you sure you can’t come back?”

 

He swallowed hard upon hearing those words, memories of the poor girl who spoke them flashing before his eyes in her lone hospital bed.

 

“You know this is for the best,” He replied, lips thinning into a line as he heard her sigh. “Don’t give me that.”

“I’m sure that Mum and Dad are okay with it now! You didn’t have to flee the country, Yuta-nii!” She protested, promptly coughing after as his eyes widened in worry at the sound.

“Hina-chan, don’t push yourself,” He warned, trying his best to keep his voice down for Taeyong was still in the kitchen and could probably hear him from where he sat in the living room. “You know what your condition can do.”

“Nii-san, you should stop worrying about me,” The other replied, giggles erupting at the end of her sentence as the door to Taeyong’s apartment opened, Mark and Donghyuck entering soon after. “You’ll get wrinkles.”

“And since _when_ did you care about _my_ wrinkles?” He teased, waving at the pair and trying to ignore the twist in his chest when Donghyuck looked away. “You guys never really cared.”

“Yuta-nii, I know you’re over in Korea doing what you want but,” Hina started, coughing a little after before sniffling and apologising. “But Mum and Dad really miss you. They want to see you and I want to see you before I…you know…”

“How much longer do I have?” He asked, knowing the irony of the question since it was obvious that _he_ was going to be living for a while.

“You mean me,” Hina whispered, voice fading into silence as the line buzzed for a few seconds. “I’m the one whose dying.”

“You’re not dying,” He insisted, knowing that the reassurance had lost its purpose years ago and that the girl he was talking to wasn’t his naive and innocent six year old sister. You’re-“

“Simply going on without you, I know,” Hina answered, giggling once more as Yuta pictured her smile. “And you know too.”

“Hina-“

 

“I’m not five, Yuta-nii. I’m sixteen and I want to see you one more time before I go.” He heard her say sincerely, her voice pausing for a few minutes as Donghyuck emerged from the kitchen with a pout on his face, sitting next to him and patiently waiting for the phone call to end. Yuta had never been more grateful for Donghyuck knowing some Japanese than that moment, knowing that he wouldn’t have to explain the hard bits later.

“And how much longer is it until you go?” He asked, voice hushed as Donghyuck stared at him in concern with wide eyes. “Tell me, Hina. I don’t want a repeat like last time.”

“Four months.” Yuta felt his heart stop momentarily at the claim, taking a moment to slouch forward as he repeated the phrase. _Four months of your younger sister still breathing, four months of your younger sister still smiling, four months of your younger sister still laughing-_ “Stop thinking so much, Nii-san. I can hear your artistic brain from here.”

“I have four months left of being an older brother?” He asked her, voice breaking as she sighed deeply, probably shaking her head at him like the matured teenager she was.

“Idiot, you’ll always be an older brother.” He felt tears slide down his cheeks at the reply, biting his lip as someone else’s hand began to gently wipe away the sadness - smearing it instead of completely getting rid of it. “I’ll just be-“

“Moving on without me,” He cut her off, hearing her laugh brightly before it settled into a more sadness induced laugh. “I know.”

“I know you know,” She replied, smile probably gracing her lips as she took a moment to compose herself. “And I know you know that I know.”

“I’ll be there soon,” He reassured her, fingers already itching to grab his laptop to open it and start searching for flights that he could afford. “I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Hina replied easily as some shuffling seemed to occur on the other end of the line. “You know the university won’t let you take time off.”

“This is a family emergency, they’ll let me,” He stated, not knowing if he was reassuring her or himself. “They have to.”

“They’d be heartless not to,” She agreed, humming shortly before he heard Donghyuck’s gentle whispers of _‘it’s okay’_ s and _‘stop crying, you’ll be okay’_ s. “Who’s with you?” He glanced sideways at Donghyuck as he adjusted his grip on the phone, the younger boy blinking at him owlishly at the sudden attention.

 

“Just someone,” He answered curtly, hearing her gasp before she lapsed into a coughing fit once more.

“ _Just_ someone? Nakamoto Yuta! Tell me what’s going on in Korea!” He groaned at her reaction since he _knew_ that she would have reacted in this way. “Is it…the guy that Taeyong-nii told me about?”

“Why the hell do you talk to Taeyong?” He asked her, betrayal spreading through to his heart at the thought of his younger sister and his host brother gossiping about him. “And _how_?! Didn’t the hospital take away your phone?”

“Moto-nee sneaks it in!” Hina squeaked, giggling adorably at the end before continuing. “And Taeyong-nii is your host brother which means that he’s practically _my_ brother too!”

“I can’t believe this,” He sighed out, hearing her laughter erupt in his ear before a loud _‘Hina-sama, kore ha anata no obentou’_ interrupted her bright laughter. “You should eat. Who knows how much food we’ll be able to get in you later.”

“Nii-san, my systems may be failing,” Hina started, sighing as she probably took whatever the nurse was giving her before continuing. “But I’m not going down without a fight.”

“That’s my warrior,” He said fondly, small smile rising as he thought about her tired but proud smile. “Keep fighting, Hina-chan.”

“And you keep pining for that guy,” She replied teasingly, laughing at the end as his face morphed into a scowl.

“I am _not_ pining,” He insisted, causing her to laugh even more to his dismay.

“Yeah and I’m not dying.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I know it’s not.” He heard Hina sigh once more before a giggle was heard and several beeps signalling the end of the call invaded his ear.

 

“She hung up on me… _again_ ,” He sighed out, exasperated as he turned towards Donghyuck who looked extremely worried. “Sorry about that, just some family things back in Japan,” He apologised, quickly switching to Korean since he knew that Donghyuck would struggle if he were to continue talking in Japanese for much longer. He watched Donghyuck shake his head before the smaller male started to fidget with his fingers in his lap.

“Are you…are you sure you’re okay?” He heard Donghyuck ask timidly, undoubtedly awkward due to their last encounter. “That seemed pretty…intense.”

“It’s just…that was just my sister,” He replied, noticing how easy it was to open up to someone like _Donghyuck_ who he knew would let him feel whatever he wanted. “She’s in hospital.”

“For what?” He heard Donghyuck ask, the younger quickly realising what he had said and slapping a hand over his mouth. “I-I mean, you don’t have to answer that-“

“Broken heart,” He answered, locking gazes with the younger male who furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Twelve years ago, there was a car accident that I was in. My sister and I were in the back while my dad drove at the front. Someone was speeding and hit our car from the driver’s seat. My dad ended up having his lower body paralysed due to some spinal injury, I had gotten lucky and had heavy bleeding that could be fixed with a few blood transplants but my sister…she went into a coma. She had so many injuries ranging from scratches and bruises to broken bones.”

“I’m sorry,” Donghyuck blurted, sadness swimming in his eyes, causing Yuta to smile at him before grabbing one of the younger boy’s hands in his for courage.

“Don’t be, you weren’t that driver,” He answered, averting his gaze to the floor as he continued. “It took a year for her to get out of that coma and when we thought she was fine…that’s when they realised that her heart was deteriorating.”

“So that’s the broken heart bit,” Donghyuck commented and he nodded, feeling Donghyuck’s arm across his shoulder as the younger’s warmth spread to his bones.

“Yeah…at first a pacemaker worked but after a while, it just didn’t,” He explained, closing his eyes and placing some of his weight on the younger male. “They tried heaps of things and now…”

“She has four months before she dies,” Donghyuck finished for him and he nodded, the heavy silence falling over them as Donghyuck released his hand in favour of wrapping his arms around him. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Don’t be,” He replied, wrapping his arms around the younger and resting his forehead on his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be.”

“But I am,” Donghyuck insisted, squeezing him tighter. “I really am.”

“This is enough,” He whispered, returning the squeeze. “You being here is enough.”

“Is it really?” He heard Donghyuck ask him, voice small and scared - something that was so unlike _Donghyuck_ tainting his words.

“I said that I meant it, didn’t I?” He asked back, teasing tone being overridden with desperation and sadness. “I really do mean it. You’re enough for me, Donghyuck, and I don’t want anyone else.”

“So you’re not like…creeped out or anything?” He heard Donghyuck ask him and promptly snorted, burying his nose even more into the younger boy’s shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“Why the fuck would I be creeped out?” He asked, pulling the younger boy closer to emphasis his question. “I told you that I was flattered, didn’t I?”

“But I’m like…sixteen and you’re like…old…” He didn’t resist his urge to pinch the younger boy in the side. “Ow! Okay! Okay! You’re not old!”

“Donghyuck,” He stated, pulling back to stare at the younger boy once more and noticing that he had yet another bruise on his cheek. “Why the hell are you always getting hurt?”

“Uh…trouble finds me?” Donghyuck supplied helpfully, causing him to give the younger boy a face of disbelief. “Okay, my father got mad at me for coming home late the other night.”

“I told you that I should have dropped you off,” He chastised the other who laughed sheepishly.

“But then my father would have assumed things and I would rather _not_ deal with that-“

“What would he assume?” He asked, biting his lip slightly as he stared at the younger, not wanting to have misread anything. “Tell me.”

“My father doesn’t…he doesn’t like me being…the way I am…” _Donghyuck, you have to give me more than that._

“And by that you mean…”

“Gay. I’m gay, Yuta-hyung.”

 

He couldn’t stop his mouth from falling open at the younger’s confession, eyes blinking as he stared at the younger in shock.

 

“What? But…” He trailed off, remembering the younger’s reactions to his teasing actions and the scowls that had come with them. “You hated me doing gay things!”

“Yeah because you’re like hot and my type and that’s just scary because I didn’t know that I liked you then!” He heard Donghyuck shout, rapid fire Korean coming into play as he struggled to decipher everything that was coming out fo the younger’s mouth. “And now you know and fuck, I want to die.”

“No dying, not on my watch,” He stated, knocking the younger male’s forehead with his own. “And you think I’m hot?” He asked, watching Donghyuck’s face morph into yet another scowl.

“You’re fucking narcissistic,” Donghyuck spat out, no real venom in his voice as his glare burned Yuta’s irises. “You know that?”

“I’ve been told,” He replied easily, smirking at the younger and noticing the deepening blush on his tanned cheeks. “You’re not the first one to tell me.”

“That’s not a surprise,” Donghyuck commented before sighing and tackling Yuta down to the couch, placing all of his weight on top of him. “I’m tired so let’s sleep.”

“Why the hell do I have to sleep with you?” He complained, lightly slapping the younger’s hip when he accidentally elbowed his stomach.

“You’re comfy,” Donghyuck simply stated before he went limp and began to snore very loudly.

“You’re such a drama queen,” He commented, smiling to himself before wrapping his arms around the smaller male’s waist to prevent him from falling off the couch. “But at least I know you like me like that.”

“ _Sleep_.” He heard Donghyuck state, laughing loudly at the other’s annoyed tone but not missing the bright smile that had risen to Donghyuck’s face.

“Will try to,” He replied softly, closing his eyes and treasuring the moment where they didn’t feel like they were glued shut due to tears. “Sleep well, Hyuck.” He heard Donghyuck dramatically snore once more in reply and let his own smile surface to his face.

 

_Keep pining? Who said that I was pining? He likes me like that so until I sort everything out in Japan…_

 

_We’ll just take baby steps. That’s right, baby steps, Yuta. Baby steps…_

 

 _But I don’t_ want _to take baby steps anymore!_

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

Hina-sama, kore ha anata no obentou / ひな様、これは貴方のお弁当。 / ひなさま、これはあなたのおべんとう。  
             = Miss Hina, here is your lunch box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the drought but I hope this would suffice until the next chapter is up ^_^


	15. I'll Protect You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hyuck, wake up. Okay, this is cute and all but you seriously need to wake up.”  
> “I don’t want to.”  
> “No, I mean, seriously, Hyuck. Your dad is at the door and I don’t know how much longer Taeyong-hyung can stall him. That’s why you need to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNING: There is a lot of swearing and shouting ahead. Please take care while reading if you choose to read this chapter (I don't want anyone to feel as if they need to read this chapter). Also, the next chapter will be Yuta's perspective of this one so if you think you will be triggered, I think it would be best to skip that one as well.

“Hyuck, wake up.” He groaned, tightening his arms around the pillow even more and buried his face in it since he didn’t want to wake up - especially not to the voice of his best friend. “Okay, this is cute and all but you seriously need to wake up.”

“I don’t want to,” He whined, forcing his eyes to open halfway and seeing a streak of grey fabric. _Huh, since when did I have a grey pillow?_

“No, I mean, seriously, Hyuck. Your dad is at the door and I don’t know how much longer Taeyong-hyung can stall him.” His shot open at the new information, deciding to stare at Mark in panic who was mirroring his expression. He still hadn’t moved and now realised that there were arms around his waist that were holding him protectively. “That’s why you need to go.”

“Why the fuck is he _here_?!” He whispered harshly, struggling to free himself but ended up elbowing the poor person he was on top of in the face. He heard a groan, a sigh and then the body below him was entering a sitting position and rubbing one of his eyes.

“Why are you swearing?” He heard the older exchange student say as a mantra of swear words resounded in his brain at the thought of his father walking in and seeing him like…like _this_. “Wait, you’re always swearing.”

“Mark, do I look normal?” He asked his best friend, hurriedly getting off the older exchange student and smoothing out his hair and clothes in an attempt to look presentable.

“As normal as Lee Donghyuck can look,” Mark replied, smiling with worry as he glanced at Taeyong who was desperately trying to distract the angry man from entering his household. “You need to go _now_.”

“Get the med kit ready,” He stated before taking a deep breath and walking towards the door with false confidence. “Hey Dad!” He exclaimed, casually pushing Taeyong aside as he smiled up at his father. “What’s up?”

“It’s past curfew. Get your phone and let’s go,” His father replied curtly, glaring at Taeyong who smiled back awkwardly. “Fucking useless piece of trash. Ever thought of being normal?”

“Dad, let’s _go_ ,” He interrupted when he noticed the hurt flash across Taeyong’s face at the words, his heart sinking when he knew that he would rather be Taeyong’s type of normal than his father’s. “I have my phone,” He stated, forcibly grabbing his father’s wrist and trying to pull him out of the doorway.

“Don’t fucking touch me! You’re as bad as he is!” His father shouted, wrenching his wrist out from his feeble grip as he caught the familiar smell of alcohol on the older man’s clothes. “A useless piece of flesh is what you are!”

“At least I’m not _you_!” He shouted back, tired of having to deal with the same insults that were thrown at him when his father became drunk. “At least I have the ability _to_ love!”

 

“You may love them but will they love you?”

 

Those words hit his heart harder than he had expected them to for he had truly believed that he had learned to become immune to drunk questions like that.

 

“Yuta! Don’t!”

“Hyung! Please think-“

“He’ll get the love that he deserves and it won’t be from a bitch like you!.”

 

Donghyuck turned back to see the older exchange student glaring at his father while struggling to be held back by both Taeyong and Mark. The amount of anger that was burning in the exchange student’s irises made his heart warm since he knew that the anger was on behalf of _him_.

“You think you can talk back to me?” He heard his father ask slyly, alarm bells ringing in his head as his father began to walk closer to the older exchange student who had started to stiffen. “You _really_ think you can do that?”

“Dad, let’s _go_ ,” He insisted, running in front of his three older friends in an attempt to salvage what he could before his father raised his hand and brought the back of his hand down to his cheekbone.

“You have no fucking right to stand up for them,” His father stated coldly, making him look away as he felt shame burn through his being.

“And you have no fucking right to do that.” He heard Yuta state before arms were pulling him backwards and placing him behind the older Japanese male’s back - protecting him from his father. He felt Mark’s arms rest against his shoulders and pull him closer to his best friend’s chest as Taeyong continued glaring at his father alongside Yuta.

“I have every fucking right. He’s _my_ son,” His father shot back as he saw his father’s eyes narrow and lock onto Yuta’s face. “And who the fuck are you to be standing up for a bitch like him?” _Yuta-hyung, please don’t say anything stupid…_

 

“I’m his boyfriend. What the fuck are you going to do about it?”

 

_I might as well start digging our graves side by side, Yuta-hyung…_

 

“So you’re not normal either, huh,” His father commented before he coughed and scowled at him, his father’s eyes finding his own and sending glares that told him that he wasn’t safe. “You didn’t tell me about this.”

“I didn’t know I _was_ dating him,” He answered honestly, receiving a glare from Yuta who quickly turned back to his father.

“That’s because I haven’t asked him out yet.” From beside him, Donghyuck heard Taeyong sigh and looked just in time to see the older male bring his hand to his forehead in what he assumed was frustration. “But I will.”

“Oh _really_?” His father asked, laughing at the end of the sentence and causing Donghyuck to scrunch his nose up due to the disgusting stench of alcohol. “Listen, barely anyone can deal with him. Even his mother left because of him.”

“Leave Mum out of this,” He found himself saying through gritted teeth as Yuta glanced back at him in concern. “She’s gone.”

“Yeah because of _you_.” He heard his father state once more, voice rising as he took a step forward while Mark tightened his arms around him in alarm. From next to him, he could see Taeyong take out his phone as his fingers began to fly across the screen. “If you weren’t such a fucking handful-“

“I was a _newborn_ when she died, Dad!” He screamed out, body starting to shake in Mark’s arms as his best friend began to comb his hair to calm him down. “Sure, my mum now is great but why do you blame me for the death of someone that I don’t know?!”

“If it weren’t for _you_ then she would still be here, wouldn’t she?!” He heard his father shout, the words piercing his heart once more as he remembered all the times in the past that the same question had been asked. “If it weren’t for you, she’d still be here with _me_!”

“It wasn’t his fault!” He heard Yuta scream from in front of him - could practically _feel_ the older Japanese male’s seething anger and glare from behind him. “It’s no one’s fault!”

“Bullshit-“

 

“Sorry sir, but we need you to step away.” A foreign voice interrupted them and for once, Donghyuck was glad that someone had interfered for he truly didn’t want to know what might have happened to Yuta if the argument were to have kept going. “Sir, I have a gun.”

“Fucking police,” His father mumbled before he turned around and raised his hands up in surrender, allowing the officer to place his wrists in handcuffs before another lead him to the car. “You’ll fucking regret this, Donghyuck!” Taking shaky breaths, Donghyuck didn’t notice that Mark had been wiping his tears away until the older told him that he was safe now.

“Hyuck, it’s okay…we’re here now…you’re safe now…” He looked at Mark once more with teary eyes before he hugged the older male and buried his head in his shoulder.

“You really think so?” He asked quietly, vaguely registering Yuta swearing in Japanese as Taeyong swore back at him in the same language to shut up.

“I know so,” Mark replied, carefully combing his hair and placing soft kisses to the top of his forehead to calm him down. “You’re safe with us.”

“But what is he comes back, hyung?” He asked, leaning back to look at Mark in the eyes. “What if-“

“Then I’ll protect you, Hyuck.” He heard an older voice with a slight Japanese accent state before a hand was roughly patting his head and he was fighting down a burning blush. “I don’t know any fighting techniques but I know how to push someone’s buttons-“

“And you nearly got us all beat up, Yuta,” Taeyong stated, staring in disapproval at the Japanese male who pouted.

“What the fuck was I meant to do? Sit back and watch the show?” Donghyuck ignored the fact that his heart sped up at the determination that the older Japanese male had to protect him. “No way am I doing that, Yong.”

“You could have handled it better,” Taeyong stated before he turned to Donghyuck who was still being held in Mark’s arms. “You should probably call your mum.”

“But isn’t his mum-“

“He’s talking about his step-mum.” Mark explained as he took out his phone from his pocket and began to shakily find his mother’s contact. It was a few rings before she picked up, worry and concern laced in her voice as she began to ask numerous questions.

 

“Hyuck? Oh my _god_ , Hyuck! Where are you?! Where’s your dad?! None of you are here and I _swear to god_ if one of you end up in the police station, I’m going to-“

“Mum, I’m fine,” He interrupted her, hearing her sigh in relief as a smile surfaced on his own face. Despite her being his step-mum, she really was like his own mother since he had known since he was in diapers. “I’m at Taeyong’s place with Mark.”

“So you’re visiting your crush, okay,” His mother replied, giggling at the end as he whined and felt his cheeks heating up. “I get it, Hyuck. You’re growing older and starting to meet new people.”

“Mum, he came here drunk,” He said, killing the joking atmosphere that his mother had created when she sighed.

“Hyuck, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there,” He heard her say and he shook his head, forgetting that she couldn’t see him. “Hyuck, you don’t deserve someone like him to be your father.”

“Then you don’t deserve someone like him to be your husband,” He retaliated, hearing his mother sigh once more before she coughed.

“I’ll be at Taeyong’s place in half an hour to pick you up. Hopefully, you can calm your dad down until then.”

“You see,” He started, already watching the police car drive down the road with his drunk father inside. “Taeyong-hyung called the police and well…he was…um…taken…”

“I _really_ can’t have a normal life with you two around,” She said, more to herself than anyone else, before she sighed once more and clicked her tongue. “I’ll see how he’s doing on the way there. I’ll probably be an hour altogether, is that alright?”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” He replied, grateful that at least one person in his household cared about him. “It’s more than okay.”

“Take care, Hyuck.” He heard his mother say before she hung up and he exhaled in relief as the rest looked at him in concernn.

“She’s coming in an hour,” He informed them, seeing Yuta’s mouth form a thin line as Taeyong and Mark exchanged a look.

“You need rest, Hyuck,” Taeyong stated, leading them all inside as he made his way to the kitchen. “You’ve been through a bit today.”

“You want to watch Erased? I can get it up on Taeyong-hyung’s laptop…” Mark asked him, causing him to nod since he knew that his best friend was doing his best to calm him down as he was still shaking. He didn’t expect someone to pull him into a hug when Mark left to get Taeyong’s laptop, nor did he expect that person to bury their head in his shoulder.

 

No words were exchanged between them but he knew that none were needed for the message that was being given to him.

 

_I’ll protect you, Hyuck._

 

_Then, I’ll do my best to protect you too, Yuta-hyung._


	16. I Don't Want To Lose Someone Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What makes you think that you’ll find someone who actually loves you, Yuta?! What makes you think that your boyfriend here will find someone who loves him?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this happened after I overthinked (Overthought? Idk, I can't english now) myself into a panic attack during the last half hour of one of my exams...
> 
> ANYWAY ENJOY!
> 
> BTW: This is Yuta's POV of the previous chapter so there are still shouts and conflict and you all know what happened anyway.

“…why you….go”

“… _fuck_ is here here?!”

 

Hearing the loud whispers of two unknown people, Yuta groaned and sighed as he began to sit up when he noticed that a tanned male was still lying down on top of him.

 

“Why are you swearing?” He asked groggily, rubbing his eyes. “Wait, you’re always swearing.”

“Mark, do I look normal?” He heard Donghyuck ask his best friend, fear lurking underneath the question as he watched the younger get off him and clumsily combing his hair. Donghyuck was doing such a bad and frantic job that Yuta had to physically stop himself from reaching out to perform the mundane tasks for him.

“As normal as Lee Donghyuck can look.” He heard Mark reply with a worried smile, glancing at the doorway where Taeyong stood, trying to talk the man into leaving. “You need to go _now_.”

“Get the med kit ready,” Donghyuck stated, voice trembling slightly as Yuta watched him walk towards the door with fabricated confidence, pushing Taeyong aside. “Hey Dad! What’s up?”

“It’s past curfew. Get your phone and let’s go,” The stranger - Donghyuck’s father, he reminded himself - replied gruffly, choosing to glare at Taeyong after who still hosted a forced smile that was painful to see. “Fucking useless piece of trash. Ever thought of being normal?”

“Dad, let’s _go_.” He heard Donghyuck interrupt, the younger moving to grab his father’s wrist as he reassured the other that he had his phone. Even from where he was not he couch, Yuta could see the anger that built in his eyes. Strangely, he felt anger of his own rise as he watched Donghyuck’s father forcibly yank his wrist from the youngest’s grip.

“A useless piece of flesh is what you are!” _Mine always said the same thing._

“At least I’m not _you_! At least I have the ability _to_ love!” _I always said the same thing before I decided to leave._

 

“You may love them but will they love you?”

 

 _“What makes you think that you’ll find someone who actually loves you, Yuta?! What makes you think that your_ boyfriend _here will find someone who loves him?!”_

 

Without processing anything but white hot anger, Yuta imagined for a second that he was talking to his own father back in Japan when he was a teenager defending his first boyfriend.

 

“He’ll get the love that he deserves and it won’t be from a bitch like you!”

 

When Nakamoto Yuta saw Donghyuck’s head turn towards him so fast that he could have gotten whiplash, Yuta knew he fucked up badly. Donghyuck’s eyes were clouded, judgement on the situation unclear as he forced himself to tear his eyes away from the younger and to the supposed adult in front of him.

 

“You think you can talk back to me?” He heard the other ask, muscles tensing as he tried to remember all he could from the times where he would defend Mina from those who look for trouble back in Japan. “You _really_ think you can do that?”

“Dad, let’s _go_ ,” Donghyuck insisted, quickly running before stopping in front of them with pleads being reflected in his eyes. Yuta would have adored the action, especially with it’s sentiment, but quickly found even more hot rage coursing through his veins when he witness Donghyuck’s father strike his cheek. _Oh you are not screwing with him like that. Not while I’m here._

“You have no fucking right to stand up for them.” _He has every fucking right to._

“And you have no fucking right to do that,” He stated harshly, glad that his voice didn’t shake as he grabbed Donghyuck’s arm and pulled so the younger was behind him. _No one has any fucking right to lay their hand on anyone else._

“I have every fucking right. He’s _my_ son,” Donghyuck’s father retaliated childishly, as if the fact that he had a son was the only validation he needed. “And who the fuck are you to be standing up for a bitch like him?” _Who am I? Well…I mean…_

 

“I’m his boyfriend. What the fuck are you going to do about it?”

 

_You know fully well that what you said will make things worse, Nakamoto Yuta._

 

“So you’re not normal either, huh.” He heard the other comment, coughing and scowling before his eyes weren’t digging holes in his pupils - they were looking beyond him at the fragile male behind him. “You didn’t tell me about this.” _He doesn’t need to._

“I didn’t know I _was_ dating him.” _Ouch. Talk about heartbreak without confessing._

“That’s because I haven’t asked him out yet,” He informed the other, voice oddly confident for something so _stupid_. “But I will,” He stated to reassure himself and Donghyuck who was undoubtedly listening behind him.

“Oh _really_?” He heard the older ask, laughing cynically at the end as Yuta imagined a huge label of ‘INSANE’ on top of his head for his own amusement. “Listen, barely anyone can deal with him. Even his mother left because of him.” _Doesn’t mean I will._

“Leave Mum out of this.” He heard Donghyuck say, voice firm but softer than what it was before. “She’s gone.”

“Yeah because of _you_. If you weren’t such a fucking handful-“

“I was a _newborn_ when she died, Dad!” He flinched a bit at how Donghyuck raised his voice, pain seeming to rip the younger boy’s words apart and leaving him vulnerable. “Sure, my mum now is great but why do you blame me for the death of someone that I don’t know?!”

“If it weren’t for _you_ then she would still be here, wouldn’t she?!”

 

_“If it weren’t for you then I wouldn’t have been kicked out now, would I?!”_

 

 _Not now, I can’t have these kind of flashbacks_ now _._

 

“If it weren’t for you, she’d still be here with _me_!”

“It wasn’t his fault!” He screamed, ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that sounded a lot like his broken fifteen year old self whispering _‘it’s not your fault’_. “It’s no one’s fault!”

“Bullshit-“

“Sorry sir, but we need you to step away.” Another voice - one filled to the brim with authority - interrupted them, causing Yuta to peek and see the all too familiar police uniform alongside a raised taser gun. “Sir, I have a gun.”

“Fucking police,” Donghyuck’s father grumbled, raising his hands as if this happened often. “You’ll fucking regret this, Donghyuck!” As he watched the older man be led by police to the car, Yuta allowed his muscles to relax and the tension in his bones faded as easily as they came. He felt tired, heart heavy, when he noticed the tears that Mark was wiping off Donghyuck’s usually happy face.

“Hyuck, it’s okay…we’re here now…you’re safe now…” He heard Mark whisper to the other, watching Donghyuck bury his head in the other’s neck and feeling an odd pang resound in his chest before he began to curse in rapid fire Japanese as Taeyong screeched ‘ _urusei!’_. Not listening, Yuta continued to curse and grumble about the event, immediately stopping when he heard Donghyuck speak.

 

“But what is he comes back, hyung?”

 

“Then I’ll protect you, Hyuck,” He answered, knowing full well that Donghyuck did not want an answer from him and patting the younger’s head lightly. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the forming bruise on the other’s cheek. “I don’t know any fighting techniques but I know how to push someone’s buttons-“

“And you nearly got us all beat up, Yuta.” He heard Taeyong state, feeling the disapproving glare being directed towards him, causing him to pout.

“What the fuck was I meant to do? Sit back and watch the show?” He asked sarcastically, shaking his head soon after. “No way am I doing that, Yong.”

“You could have handled it better,” Taeyong replied, disappointment lacing his words as the other turned towards Donghyuck. “You should probably call your mum.” _But didn’t his father just say-_

“But isn’t his mum-“

“He’s talking about his step-mum,” Mark explained to him, arms loosening from where they were around his best friend as Donghyuck began to get his phone out, tapping the screen frantically. He would have listened in to the conversation if Taeyong hadn’t dragged him slightly into the house, not too far away to not see the vulnerable younger but far enough to not disturb the conversation.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Taeyong told him quietly, voice low with disappointment - something that Yuta had been on the receiving end of recently.

“You would have done the same if it was Mark,” He retaliated, hardening his glare towards the older who sighed.

“Have you ever thought about what Hyuck thinks of this? Did you even _consider_ him when you stood up for him?” Taeyong asked him, mouth forming a straight line as the disappointment in his eyes became more prominent. “I’m not saying what you did was bad…it was just really irrational and everything could have been worse. Hyuck is more fragile than he lets on, Yuta.”

“I know that now,” He replied bitterly, seeing Mark glance over at them in a sign that Donghyuck was nearing the end of the conversation with his mother. “But I want us to work out.” He felt Taeyong look at him curiously from the side as they both went back to the two in the doorway, conversation between them obviously not over and would probably be revisited once Mark and Donghyuck leave.

“She’s coming in an hour.” He heard Donghyuck report, voice shaking as he felt his lips pressing against one another in a thin line.

“You need rest, Hyuck,” Taeyong stated, leading the way to the kitchen as they all followed like ducklings following their mother. “You’ve been through a bit today.”

“You want to watch Erased? I can get it up on Taeyong-hyung’s laptop…” He heard Mark ask the younger, noticing Donghyuck’s face relax slightly with gratefulness at the offer before he nodded. Once Mark was gone, Yuta noticed that Donghyuck was shaking slightly - not enough for it to be obvious but enough if you were looking for _something_ (Yuta had no idea what he was looking for in the other and guessed that he just liked to admire Donghyuck, barely chubby cheeks and all). He strode forward to wrap his arms around the younger, slowly making his way to the couch as he buried as much of his head in the younger’s shoulder while making an effort to see where they were walking.

 

He didn’t dare to speak for he felt like he would only place more unnecessary pressure on the younger if he did - one message was clear though.

 

_I’ll do my best to protect you, Hyuck._

 

_I don’t want to lose someone like you._

 

_______________________________________________

 

Translations:

urusei / うるせい  
             = Shut up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALSO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 200+ KUDOS!!!!!!! I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH AND I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHY PEOPLE STILL READ THIS EVEN THOUGH I THINK IT'S REALLY BAD BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING THIS STORY AND THIS SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	17. More Grammar Points

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh…sure…” He answered, watching warily as Taeyong stuck his tongue out at Yuta and retreated to the kitchen. “Mind telling me what that was all about?”

“I don’t get this,” He stated, throwing down his textbook and leaning back in his chair for the umpteenth time that day. “I just don’t fucking get this.”

“It’s really not that hard.” He heard Yuta reply flatly for the umpteenth time that day, the older sighing and pointing to the pages once more. “You just have to remember to go to the last character in the line for these types of verbs.”

“But I don’t know _how_ the fuck you can tell when you have to add a _‘you’_ or a _‘ou_ ’! It’s too confusing!” He whined even further and watched Yuta ran a hand through his hair. 

“But this is a required grammar point for your exam which is in _four weeks_ , Hyuck,” Yuta replied easily and Donghyuck found himself huffing at the thought of sitting through his speaking exam in four weeks time. “Here, I’ve got an example. Remember how to say ‘protect’?”

“ _‘Mamorimasu’_ ,” He answered, pouting as Yuta nodded in delight. 

“Since _‘ri’_ is the last _kana_ , you have to drop down to…” Yuta trailed off and Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at him, not quite understanding what the other wanted from him. “ _Ra, ri, ru, re, ro…_ which one’s the last one?”

“ _‘Ro’_?” He asked, witnessing Yuta’s face light up once more as the older added an _‘u’_ character at the end before finishing the sentence off with _‘to omou’_. “ _‘Mamorou to omou’_?”

“Yep, it means ‘I hope to protect’,” Yuta explained, circling the _‘rou_ ’ for emphasis. “This is the bit that makes it ‘to hope’ since you’re literally saying ‘I think I will protect’.”

“When do I use ‘ _you’_ , then?” He asked, peering over at his textbook that had _hiragana_ and _kanji_ morphing into one another. “Other than _‘tabeyou’_.”

“You use it with verbs that usually end with _‘e’_ sounds but you also use it with _‘shimasu and kimasu’_.” He nodded diligently to Yuta’s explanation, still trying to wrap his thoughts around the plain form of _‘shall’_ in Japanese. “But with _‘kimasu_ ’, it becomes _‘koyou_ ’ and we don’t really use it a lot since it’s the same as saying _‘ikou’_.”

“Example for _‘shimasu’_?” He asked, watching Yuta sigh before writing down some messy _kanji_ and neat _furigana_ above it. “ _Gogo shimasu_?”

“That’s read as _‘hogo shimasu’_.” He heard Yuta correct him and made a small sound of realisation. “You get rid of _‘masu’_ and add _‘shiyou_ ’.”

“So… _’hogo shiyou to omou_ ’?” He asked and smiled wide when Yuta nodded at him, both of them exchanging a hi-five after.

 

“Hyuck, your mum called to say that they’re looking into your situation with your dad.” Taeyong’s voice informed him, the older male appearing out of the kitchen and walking into the living room to where they were. “Nothing’s been processed but she doesn’t want you anywhere in the house with him there so you’re staying here. We’ll drive you over later so you can get your stuff, okay?”

“She’s really pressing charges, huh…” He commented, not really believing that his step-mother was taking the necessary legal action now despite refusing to a year ago. “I’m glad.”

“So am I,” Taeyong replied, smiling softly before reaching over to ruffle his hair and glancing down at their work. “Really, Yuta? ‘ _Anata wo hogo shiyou to omou’_?”

“Let me be,” Yuta defended, pouting and causing Donghyuck to laugh at him since he seemed pretty adorable in that one moment. 

“That’s terrible flirting,” Taeyong stated, prompting Donghyuck to ask for an explanation. “He’s saying he hopes to protect you. _Anata ha sukinahito no hogo shikata ga wakaranaiyo._ ”

“ _Shitteiru!_ ” Yuta protested and Donghyuck found himself quickly becoming confused at the amount of grammar points that he hadn’t learnt yet being used. “ _Shittesugiru!_ ”

“ _Ja, subete wo hanasouka?_ ” Taeyong asked, a smirk evident on his face as Donghyuck simply glanced between them, hoping for an explanation that he knew would never come. “ _Hanasanai no ni, tonari ni suwaru…hontouni, zannen da to omou._ ”

“ _Daremo anata no iken wo shitsumon shinakattayo!_ ” Yuta shouted, motioning for Taeyong to go away. “ _Boifurendo ni itte!_ ”

“ _Eigo wo benkyou shiteiru! Ittara, chotto mendokusai…_ ” Taeyong explained, suddenly looking like a kicked puppy when Yuta growled and pointed to the entrance of the kitchen. “Fine, be that way. I’ll drive you later after dinner okay, Donghyuck?”

“Uh…sure…” He answered, watching warily as Taeyong stuck his tongue out at Yuta and retreated to the kitchen. “Mind telling me what that was all about?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Yuta answered, evidently making a pout rest on his lips and Donghyuck secretly enjoyed the fact that Yuta seemed to hate it. “Stop that.”

“Wow, my self-proclaimed boyfriend is rejecting me,” He said sarcastically, not really realising what he had said until his own brain processed it and Yuta was still looking at him with a disappointed expression. “Wait, hang on-“

“Your self-proclaimed boyfriend would like himself to not be so ‘self-proclaimed’ anymore, you know.” He heard the older state, felt him lean closer until all he could see was Yuta’s annoyingly pretty eyes and skin and-

“Your breath smells like _takoyaki_ ,” He blurted out, cheeks burning and sweat rolling down his forehead as Yuta leaned back and laughed outright at him. “What?”

“Trust you to ruin the mood,” Yuta replied, shaking his head before going back to teaching him about the grammar points he needed to know. “So back to this…wait, does it really smell like _takoyaki_?”

“Yeah,” He answered, carefully avoiding the older’s eye as he heard Yuta hum in thought.

“Now I want _takoyaki_.” He heard Yuta state and couldn’t suppress the smile that appeared on his face. 

“I’d buy you some but I’m broke,” He replied, smiling mischievously as Yuta rolled his eyes and they went back to reviewing Donghyuck’s notes, shoulders and knees brushing slightly and sending electric shocks up Donghyuck’s nerves - jolting his heart to beat faster with every passing second.

 

 ____________________________ _____________________

 

Translations:

Mamorimasu / 守ります / まもります  
             = To protect

 

Mamorou to omou / 守と思う / まもるとおもう  
             = (I) hope to protect

 

Tabeyou / 食べよう / たべよう  
             = (I) shall eat

 

Shimasu / します  
             = To do

 

Kimasu / 来ます / きます  
             = To come (to a place)

 

Koyou / 来よう / こよう  
             = (I) shall come

 

Ikou / 行こう / いこう  
             = (I) shall go

 

Hogo shimasu / 保護します / ほごします  
             = To protect (another way of saying it)

 

Hogo shiyou to omou / 保護しようと思う / ほごしようとおもう  
             = (I) hope to protect

 

Anata wo hogo shiyou to omou / 貴方を保護しようと思う / あなたはほごしようとおもう  
             = (I) hope to protect you / (I) hope I will protect you

 

Anata ha sukinahito no hogo shikata ga wakaranaiyo / 貴方は好きな人の保護し方がわからないよ / あなたはすきなひとのほごしかたがわからないよ  
             = You don't know how to protect the person you like.

 

Shitteiru / 知っている / しっている  
             = I know (Yuta protests that he  _does_ know how to protect the person he likes)

 

Shittesugiru / 知ってすぎる / しってすぎる  
             = I know too much (Yuta says that he knows how to protect the person he likes too much)

 

Ja, subete wo hanasouka? / じゃ、全てを話そうか / じゃ、すべてをはなそうか  
             = Then, shall (I) say everything? / Then, shall I tell [him] everything?

 

Hanasanai no ni, tonari ni suwaru…hontouni, zannen da to omou. / 話さないのに、隣に座る。。。本当に残念だと思う / はなさないのに、となりにすわる。。。ほんとうにざんねんだとおもう  
             = You won't say it even though you're sitting next to him...I really think it's a shame.

 

Daremo anata no iken wo shitsumon shinakattayo! / 誰もあなたの意見を質問しなかったよ！ / だれもあなたのいけんをしつもんしなかったよ！  
             = No one asked for your opinion!

 

Boifurendo ni itte! / ボイフレンドに行って！ / ボイフレンドにいって！  
             = Go to your boyfriend! 

Eigo wo benkyou shiteiru! Ittara, chotto mendokusai… / 英語を勉強している！行ったら、ちょっとめんどくさい。。。 / えいごをべんきょうしている！行ったら、ちょっとめんどくさい。。。  
             = [he's] studying English! If I go, it'll be a bit troublesome / If I go, it'll be a bit annoying.

 

Takoyaki / たこ焼き / たこやき  
             = Octopus ball (Japanese food)


	18. Desperation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter is really short - things have been rough with me constantly changing the plot line of this story to make all ends meet but fluffy times (and a bit of angst) are coming up so hopefully it won't be TOO bad of a wait. Also it took me ages to realise but THANK YOU FOR 250+ KUDOS LIKE SINCE WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!!
> 
> You all are truly the best for reading this mess of a story.

“Okay, you have to tell me what’s going on.”

 

Looking up from the stir fry that he was cooking, Yuta simply saw his host brother standing in the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed and stern expression on his face.

“What do I need to tell you?” He asked, not really knowing what the problem was nor what he had to tell his host brother. “There’s something I need to tell you? Is it that we’re out of beef?”

“Yuta, I have known Donghyuck for a good portion of my life,” Taeyong started, sighing and walking closer to lean against the counter as Yuta continued cooking. “Which means that he’s practically my son-“

“Funny because he’s also your boyfriend’s best friend,” He commented, snickering when Taeyong hit him playfully.

 

“Momoka texted me about Hina. I’m sure she texted you as well.”

 

Stopping momentarily to take a deep breath at the mention of his younger sisters, Yuta turned down the heat before turning towards Taeyong.

 

“Then you know everything I do,” He replied, swallowing at the memory of those darned messages that informed him of his youngest sister’s worsening condition.

“Yuta, you have to go back,” Taeyong said, grabbing his upper arms and forcing Yuta to look at him. “You need to for yourself, Hina, Momoka and your parents. The last time I talked to Hina, she was so worried about you and-“

“If I go back, Moto will kill me,” He explained, picturing his younger sister kicking him in the stomach for leaving like a coward.

“Not if you return with Donghyuck.” Taeyong’s voice was so soft that Yuta barely missed it, looking at Taeyong incredulously. “I know that Momoka is a little homophobic but you said that she was mad because you fled from your parents, right?” Nodding, Yuta gestured for Taeyong to continue. “Then…then maybe, if you had Donghyuck there, Momoka can realise what you found and your parents can see what they’ve missed out on.”

“It’s not as simple as you think,” He replied, sighing and trying to escape Taeyong’s grip to no avail. “I like Donghyuck and that’s why he can never meet my parents. _Ever_.”

“Why not? Aren’t you guys dating?” Taeyong asked and Yuta nearly laughed at the situation since he had no memory that he was actually _dating_ the boy who came for tutoring in his first language. “You’re not?”

“No, Taeyong,” He answered, shaking his head as he said the words. “We’re not.” His phone’s ringtone began to interrupt their conversation, leaving Yuta to hurriedly pull it out from his pocket to reveal Doyoung’s annoying contact. “Sorry, Tae, I have to take this.”

“It’s Doyoung, go ahead.” At the other’s words, Yuta accepted the call and was immediately met by a relieved gasp.

 

“Why are you calling me?” He asked and could practically _hear_ Doyoung’s eye roll.

“ _Nakamoto! Everyone’s handed in their flyer suggestion but you!_ ” Doyoung’s nagging voice said over the line and Yuta felt his stomach drop at the other’s words. _Had I been so focused on protecting Donghyuck and praying that Hina gets better that I forgot about the photography competition?_

“Doyoung, I am so sorry,” He apologised, his eyes widening as he began to walk quickly to the room that was his for his stay, leaving Taeyong confused in the kitchen. “I will get it done soon and send it to you.”

“ _Are you kidding me?! There’s no time! I need it by tonight or I won’t be able to choose and propose the competition to the university!”_ Yuta felt even more guilt appear in his gut, the feeling of stupidity taking over his being for prioritising his personal issues over his academic practices - photography was still a large part of his extra curricular section of his degree.

“And I will get it done by then, Doyoung,” He said, taking out the DSLR camera that he had received from the university for this specific flyer. “I promise.”

“ _Make it happen, Nakamoto_ ,” Doyoung simply replied, hanging up after and Yuta sighed heavily, not knowing what to do before an idea popped into his mind and he was running towards Taeyong in the kitchen who looked at him in concern.

“Yuta, what-“

“I need to take pictures of you, Mark and Donghyuck,” He stated hurriedly, clutching the DSLR in his hand tighter. “ _Please._ It has to be done by tonight.”

“I…” Taeyong started, staring into Yuta’s eyes as he did his best to inject desperation into his pupils. “Fine but we’re eating your stir fry for dinner tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not own NCT Dream, NCT 127 or even NCT in general. All credit goes to rightful owners.
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy~!


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